A radiation detector is disclosed. The radiation detector comprises an active detector surface configured to generate charge carriers in response to charged particles associated with incident radiation. The active detector surface is further configured with a sufficient thickness for a partial energy deposition of the charged particles to occur and permit the charged particles to pass through the active detector surface. The radiation detector further comprises a plurality of voltage leads coupled to the active detector surface. The plurality of voltage leads is configured to couple to a voltage source to generate a voltage drop across the active detector surface and to separate the charge carriers into a plurality of electrons and holes for detection. The active detector surface may comprise one or more graphene layers. Timing data between active detector surfaces may be used to determine energy of the incident radiation. Other apparatuses and methods are disclosed herein.

Multi-element high energyparticledetector modules comprise a planar heavy metal carrier of tungsten alloy with planar detector units uniformly distributed over one planar surface. The detector units are secured to the heavy metal carrier by electrically conductive adhesive so that the carrier serves as a common ground. The other surface of each planar detector unit is electrically connected to a feedthrough electrical terminal extending through the carrier for front or rear readout. The feedthrough electrical terminals comprise sockets at one face of the carrier and mating pins porjecting from the other face, so that any number of modules may be plugged together to create a stack of modules of any desired number of radiation lengths. The detector units each comprise four, preferably rectangular, p-i-n diode chips arranged around the associated feedthrough terminal to form a square detector unit providing at least 90% detector element coverage of the carrier. Integral spacers projecting from the carriers extend at least partially along the boundaries between detector units to space the p-i-n diode chips from adjacent carriers in a stack. The spacers along the perimeters of the modules are one-half the width of the interior spacers so that when stacks of modules are arranged side by side to form a large array of any size or shape, distribution of the detector units is uniform over the entire array.

Multi-element high energyparticledetector modules comprise a planar heavy metal carrier of tungsten alloy with planar detector units uniformly distributed over one planar surface. The detector units are secured to the heavy metal carrier by electrically conductive adhesive so that the carrier serves as a common ground. The other surface of each planar detector unit is electrically connected to a feedthrough electrical terminal extending through the carrier for front or rear readout. The feedthrough electrical terminals comprise sockets at one face of the carrier and mating pins projecting from the other face, so that any number of modules may be plugged together to create a stack of modules of any desired number of radiation lengths. The detector units each comprise four, preferably rectangular, p-i-n diode chips arranged around the associated feedthrough terminal to form a square detector unit providing at least 90% detector element coverage of the carrier. Integral spacers projecting from the carriers extend at least partially along the boundaries between detector units to space the p-i-n diode chips from adjacent carriers in a stack. The spacers along the perimeters of the modules are one-half the width of the interior spacers so that when stacks of modules are arranged side by side to form a large array of any size or shape, distribution of the detector units is uniform over the entire array. 5 figs.

An HgI2 device structure was designed and tested which allows HgI2 to be used to make low-energy beta-particledetectors. The devices detected tritium beta particles with an efficiency of about 25 percent. A protective encapsulant has been developed which should protect the devices for up to 20 years and will attenuate only a small fraction of the beta particles. It is noted that the devices hold significant promise to provide a practical alternative to liquid scintillation counters and gas flow-through proportional counters.

We present the advanced High EnergyParticleDetector (HEPD) developed to be installed on the China Seismo-Electromagnetic Satellite (CSES), launch scheduled by the end of 2016. The HEPD instrument aims at studying the temporal stability of the inner Van Allen radiation belts and at investigating precipitation of trapped particles induced by magnetospheric, ionosferic and tropospheric EM emissions, as well as by the seismo-electromagnetic and anthropogenic disturbances. In occasion of many earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, several measurements, on ground and by experiments on LEO satellites revealed: electromagnetic and plasma perturbations, and anomalous increases of high-energy Van Allen charged particle flux. The precipitation of trapped electrons and protons (from a few MeV to several tens of MeV) could be induced by diffusion of particles pitch-angle possibly caused by the seismo-electromagnetic emissions generated before (a few hours) earthquakes. Due to the longitudinal drift along a same L-shell, anomalous particle bursts of precipitating particles could be detected by satellites not only on the epicentral area of the incoming earthquake, but along the drift path. Moreover, the opposite drift directions of positive and negative particles could allow reconstructing the longitude of the earthquake focal area. Although, the earthquake prediction is not within the reach of current knowledge, however the study of the precursors aims at collecting all relevant information that can infer the spatial and temporal coordinates of the seismic events from measurements. At this purposes, it is essential to detect particles in a wide range of energies (because particles of different energies are sensitive to different frequencies of seismo-electromagnetic emissions), with a good angular resolution (in order to separate fluxes of trapped and precipitating particles), and excellent ability to recognize the charge (that determines the direction of the longitudinal drift

It is pointed out that detectors of the energy loss of penetrating charged particles are widely used for particle identification. These measurements are hampered, however, by fluctuations in the amount of energy deposited within the detector. It is shown that this limitation can be overcome with a new nuclear track detector, CR-39(DOP), and that the charge resolution of this detector exceeds that of any other, including semiconductor diodes.

A rocket-borne experiment using energy spectrometers that allows particle identification by the use of multiple solid-state detectors is described. The instrumentation provides information regarding the energy spectrum, pitch-angle distribution, and the type of energetic particles present in the ionosphere. Particle identification was accomplished by considering detector loss mechanisms and their effects on various types of particles. Solid state detectors with gold and aluminum surfaces of several thicknesses were used. The ratios of measured energies for the various detectors were compared against known relationships during ground-based analysis. Pitch-angle information was obtained by using detectors with small geometrical factors mounted with several look angles. Particle flux was recorded as a function of rocket azimuth angle. By considering the rocket azimuth, the rocket precession, and the location of the detectors on the rocket, the pitched angle of the incident particles was derived.

This textbook provides a clear, concise and comprehensive review of the physical principles behind the devices used to detect charged particles and gamma rays, and the construction and performance of these many different types of detectors. Detectors for high-energyparticles and radiation are used in many areas of science, especially particle physics and nuclear physics experiments, nuclear medicine, cosmic ray measurements, space sciences and geological exploration. This second edition includes all the latest developments in detector technology, including several new chapters covering micro-strip gas chambers, silicion strip detectors and CCDs, scintillating fibers, shower detectors using noble liquid gases, and compensating calorimeters for hadronic showers. This well-illustrated textbook contains examples from the many areas in science in which these detectors are used. It provides both a coursebook for students in physics, and a useful introduction for researchers in other fields.

The RADMON (Radiation Monitor) was developed as a compact device with a 4-kbit SRAM particledetector and two p-FET total dose monitors. Thus it can be used as a spacecraft radiation alarm and in situ total dose monitor. This paper discusses the design and calibration of the SRAM for proton, alpha, and heavy ion detection. Upset rates for the RADMON, based on a newly developed space particle flux algorithm, are shown to vary over eight orders of magnitude. On the STRV (Space Technology Research Vehicle) the RADMON's SRAM will be used to detect trapped protons, solar flares, and cosmic rays and to evaluate our ability to predict space results from ground tests.

A delta-doped hybrid advanced detector (HAD) is provided which combines at least four types of technologies to create a detector for energetic particles ranging in energy from hundreds of electron volts (eV) to beyond several million eV. The detector is sensitive to photons from visible light to X-rays. The detector is highly energy-sensitive from approximately 10 keV down to hundreds of eV. The detector operates with milliwatt power dissipation, and allows non-sequential readout of the array, enabling various advanced readout schemes.

A delta-doped hybrid advanced detector (HAD) is provided which combines at least four types of technologies to create a detector for energetic particles ranging in energy from hundreds of electron volts (eV) to beyond several million eV. The detector is sensitive to photons from visible light to X-rays. The detector is highly energy-sensitive from approximately 10 keV down to hundreds of eV. The detector operates with milliwatt power dissipation, and allows non-sequential readout of the array, enabling various advanced readout schemes.

With the first three years of the LHC running complete, ATLAS and CMS are planning to upgrade their innermost tracking layers with more radiation hard technologies. Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) diamond is one such technology. CVD diamond has been used extensively in beam condition monitors as the innermost detectors in the highest radiation areas of BaBar, Belle, CDF and all LHC experiments. The lessons learned in constructing the ATLAS Beam Conditions Monitor (BCM), Diamond Beam Monitor (DBM) and the CMS Pixel Luminosity Telescope (PLT) all of which are based on CVD diamond with the goal of elucidating the issues that should be addressed for future diamond based detector systems. The first beam test results of prototype diamond devices with 3D detector geometry should further enhance the radiation tolerance of this material.

Efficient suppression of β-background is essential for studies of low-energy β-delayed charged particle decays of astrophysical interest. A promising method for such studies has been a micro pattern gas amplifier detector where the sample is implanted into the gas volume and the decays that follow are observed with high gain and signal to noise ratio. An upgraded version of the original AstroBox detector has been built and commissioned at Texas A&M University. Here a description of the new AstroBox2 detector is given, selected results from the commissioning tests are presented, and future perspectives discussed.

The slight nonlinearity in temporal development of tracks diameter in CR-39 nuclear track detectors is examined with the aim of attempting to find if such nonlinearity can be directly related to the charged particleenergy. Narrowly spaced etching time-diameter experimental data for alpha particles at five energy values and for one additional energy value etched at five different temperatures are obtained. Initial results show good indication that measuring such time-diameter relationship can form a useful energy estimation tool. Good consistency with other independent published results is obtained. PMID:27341133

Detector includes delay lines connected to each detector surface strip. When several particles strike different strips simultaneously, pulses generated by each strip are time delayed by certain intervals. Delay time for each strip is known. By observing time delay in pulse, it is possible to locate strip that is struck by particle.

The CSES space mission will study the ionospheric perturbations possibly associated with earthquakes - especially with destructive ones - and explore new approaches for short-term and imminent forecast. It will also help finding a new way for theoretical studies on the mechanism of earthquake preparation processes. CSES satellite will be launched in 2016 and inserted into a circular Sun-syncronous orbit with 98 degrees inclination and 500 km altitude. Expected lifetime is 5 years. CSES hosts several instruments onboard: 2 magnetometers, an electrical field detector, a plasma analyzer, a Langmiur probe and a High EnergyParticleDetector (HEPD). Task of the HEPD is to study particle fluxes on the Earth radiation belts in order to find sudden burst. Previous space missions, indeed, have found time-correlations between particle bursts measured in space and the occurrence of an earthquake on Ground. HEPD detector will measure electrons (3 - 100 MeV) and protons (30 - 300 MeV) along CSES orbit. The angular and energy resolution and the detector acceptance are optimized to accurately detect the expected low short-term time variations of the particle flux from the radiation belts. Topic of this talk is the technical description of the HEPD and its main characteristics.

We investigated the noise of interferometric gravitational wave detectors due to heat energy deposited by cosmic-ray particles. We derived a general formula that describes the response of a mirror against a cosmic-ray passage. We found that there are differences in the comic-ray responses (the dependence of temperature and cosmic-ray track position) in cases of interferometric and resonant gravitational wave detectors. The power spectral density of vibrations caused by low-energy secondary muons is 100 times smaller than the goal sensitivity of future second-generation interferometer projects, such as LCGT and Advanced LIGO. The arrival frequency of high-energy cosmic-ray muons that generate enough large showers inside mirrors of LCGT and Advanced LIGO is one per a millennium. We also discuss the probability of exotic-particle detection with interferometers.

We investigated the noise of interferometric gravitational wave detectors due to heat energy deposited by cosmic-ray particles. We derived a general formula that describes the response of a mirror against a cosmic-ray passage. We found that there are differences in the comic-ray responses (the dependence of temperature and cosmic-ray track position) in cases of interferometric and resonant gravitational wave detectors. The power spectral density of vibrations caused by low-energy secondary muons is 100 times smaller than the goal sensitivity of future second-generation interferometer projects, such as LCGT and Advanced LIGO. The arrival frequency of high-energy cosmic-ray muons that generate enough large showers inside mirrors of LCGT and Advanced LIGO is one per a millennium. We also discuss the probability of exotic-particle detection with interferometers.

Method and apparatus for producing separated columns of scintillation layer material, for use in detection of X-rays and high energy charged particles with improved spatial resolution. A pattern of ridges or projections is formed on one surface of a substrate layer or in a thin polyimide layer, and the scintillation layer is grown at controlled temperature and growth rate on the ridge-containing material. The scintillation material preferentially forms cylinders or columns, separated by gaps conforming to the pattern of ridges, and these columns direct most of the light produced in the scintillation layer along individual columns for subsequent detection in a photodiode layer. The gaps may be filled with a light-absorbing material to further enhance the spatial resolution of the particledetector.

The HEXTE, part of the X-Ray Timing Explorer (XTE), is designed to make high sensitivity temporal and spectral measurements of X-rays with energies between 15 and 250 keV using NaI/CsI phoswich scintillation counters. To achieve the required sensitivity it is necessary to provide anticoincidence of charged cosmic ray particles incident upon the instrument, some of which interact to produce background X-rays. The proposed cosmic ray particle anticoincidence shield detector for HEXTE uses a novel design based on plastic scintillators and wavelength-shifter bars. It consists of five segments, each with a 7 mm thick plastic scintillator, roughly 50 cm x 50 cm in size, coupled to two wavelength-shifter bars viewed by 1/2 inch photomultiplier tubes. These segments are configured into a five-sided, box-like structure around the main detector system. Results of laboratory testing of a model segment, and calculations of the expected performance of the flight segments and particle anticoincidence detector system are presented to demonstrate that the above anticoincidence detector system satisfies its scientific requirements.

We demonstrate position and energy-resolved phonon-mediated detection of particle interactions in a silicon substrate instrumented with an array of microwave kinetic inductance detectors (MKIDs). The relative magnitude and delay of the signal received in each sensor allow the location of the interaction to be determined with < or approx. 1mm resolution at 30 keV. Using this position information, variations in the detector response with position can be removed, and an energy resolution of {sigma}{sub E} = 0.55 keV at 30 keV was measured. Since MKIDs can be fabricated from a single deposited film and are naturally multiplexed in the frequency domain, this technology can be extended to provide highly pixelized athermal phonon sensors for {approx}1 kg scale detector elements. Such high-resolution, massive particledetectors would be applicable to rare-event searches such as the direct detection of dark matter, neutrinoless double-beta decay, or coherent neutrino-nucleus scattering.

We have developed MICROMEGAS (MICRO MEsh GASeous) detectors for detecting a particles emitted from an 241Am standard source. The voltage applied to the ionization region of the detector is optimized for stable operation at room temperature and atmospheric pressure. The energy of a particles from the 241Am source can be varied by changing the flight path of the a particle from the 241Am source. The channel numbers of the experimentally-measured pulse peak positions for different energies of the a particles are associated with the energies deposited by the alpha particles in the ionization region of the detector as calculated by using GEANT4 simulations; thus, the energy calibration of the MICROMEGAS detector for a particles is done. For the energy calibration, the thickness of the ionization region is adjusted so that a particles may completely stop in the ionization region and their kinetic energies are fully deposited in the region. The efficiency of our MICROMEGAS detector for a particles under the present conditions is found to be ~97.3%.

The preferred embodiments are directed to a high-energydetector that is electrically shielded using an anode, a cathode, and a conducting shield to substantially reduce or eliminate electrically unshielded area. The anode and the cathode are disposed at opposite ends of the detector and the conducting shield substantially surrounds at least a portion of the longitudinal surface of the detector. The conducting shield extends longitudinally to the anode end of the detector and substantially surrounds at least a portion of the detector. Signals read from one or more of the anode, cathode, and conducting shield can be used to determine the number of electrons that are liberated as a result of high-energyparticles impinge on the detector. A correction technique can be implemented to correct for liberated electron that become trapped to improve the energy resolution of the high-energydetectors disclosed herein.

A microvertex particledetector for use in a high energy physic collider including a plurality of parallel superconducting thin film strips separated from a superconducting ground plane by an insulating layer to form a plurality of superconducting waveguides. The microvertex particledetector indicates passage of a charged subatomic particle by measuring a voltage pulse measured across a superconducting waveguide caused by the transition of the superconducting thin film strip from a superconducting to a non-superconducting state in response to the passage of a charged particle. A plurality of superconducting thin film strips in two orthogonal planes plus the slow electromagnetic wave propogating in a superconducting transmission line are used to resolve N.sup.2 ambiguity of charged particle events.

A microvertex particledetector for use in a high energy physic collider including a plurality of parallel superconducting thin film strips separated from a superconducting ground plane by an insulating layer to form a plurality of superconducting waveguides. The microvertex particledetector indicates passage of a charged subatomic particle by measuring a voltage pulse measured across a superconducting waveguide caused by the transition of the superconducting thin film strip from a superconducting to a non- superconducting state in response to the passage of a charged particle. A plurality of superconducting thin film strips in two orthogonal planes plus the slow electromagnetic wave propagating in a superconducting transmission line are used to resolve N/sup 2/ ambiguity of charged particle events. 6 figs.

Starting with a short summary of the major new experimental physics programs, we attempt to motivate the reasons why existing general-purpose detectors at Hadron Colliders are what they are, why they are being upgraded, and why new facilities are being constructed. The CDF and ATLAS detectors are used to illustrate these motivations. Selected physics results from the CDF experiment provide evidence for limitations on the detector performance, and new physics opportunities motivate both machine and detector upgrades. This is discussed with emphasis on the improved physics reach of the CDF experiment at the Fermilab Tevatron (√s =2 TeV). From 2005, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN will become operational at a collision energy of √s =14 TeV, seven times larger than at the Tevatron Collider. To exploit the physics capability of the LHC, several large detectors are being constructed. The detectors are significantly more complex than those at the Tevatron Collider because of physics and operational constraints. The detector design and technology of the aspects of the large general-purpose detector ATLAS is described.

A method and apparatus for detecting and imaging alpha particles sources is described. A dielectric coated high voltage electrode and a tungsten wire grid constitute a diode configuration discharge generator for electrons dislodged from atoms or molecules located in between these electrodes when struck by alpha particles from a source to be quantitatively or qualitatively analyzed. A thin polyester film window allows the alpha particles to pass into the gas enclosure and the combination of the glass electrode, grid and window is light transparent such that the details of the source which is imaged with high resolution and sensitivity by the sparks produced can be observed visually as well. The source can be viewed directly, electronically counted or integrated over time using photographic methods. A significant increase in sensitivity over other alpha particledetectors is observed, and the device has very low sensitivity to gamma or beta emissions which might otherwise appear as noise on the alpha particle signal.

A method and apparatus for detecting and imaging alpha particles sources is described. A conducting coated high voltage electrode (1) and a tungsten wire grid (2) constitute a diode configuration discharge generator for electrons dislodged from atoms or molecules located in between these electrodes when struck by alpha particles from a source (3) to be quantitatively or qualitatively analyzed. A thin polyester film window (4) allows the alpha particles to pass into the gas enclosure and the combination of the glass electrode, grid and window is light transparent such that the details of the source which is imaged with high resolution and sensitivity by the sparks produced can be observed visually as well. The source can be viewed directly, electronically counted or integrated over time using photographic methods. A significant increase in sensitivity over other alpha particledetectors is observed, and the device has very low sensitivity to gamma or beta emissions which might otherwise appear as noise on the alpha particle signal.

Describes the use of a particledetector, an instrument that records the passage of particles through it, to determine the mass of a particle by measuring the particles momentum, speed, and kinetic energy. An appendix discusses the limits on the impact parameter. (MDH)

Optical Wireless Communication (OWC) system for particlesdetector can be a viable solution for reducing the complexity of the optical fibre network used to extract the data from the detector. In this work we present the initial study of the tolerance to misalignment for the OWC system under investigation. We observed that using collimators of beam waist from 0.35 mm to 3.5 mm we can obtain tolerance in range from ± 0.25 mm to ± 0.8 mm. We also observed using ray trace simulation that both transmitting power and tolerance can be improved by using optimized lens at the receiver having VCSEL as transmitting source.

Measurement of Cherenkov radiation (CR) has long been a useful technique for charged particle detection and beam diagnostics. We are investigating metamaterials engineered to have refractive indices tailored to enhance properties of CR that are useful for particledetectors and that cannot be obtained using conventional media. Cherenkov radiation in dispersive media with a large refractive index differs significantly from the same effect in conventional detector media, like gases or aerogel. The radiation pattern of CR in dispersive metamaterials presents lobes at very large angles with respect to particle motion. Moreover, the frequency and particle velocity dependence of the radiated energy can differ significantly from CR in a conventional dielectric medium.

An alpha particledetector capable of detecting alpha radiation from distant sources. In one embodiment, a high voltage is generated in a first electrically conductive mesh while a fan draws air containing air molecules ionized by alpha particles through an air passage and across a second electrically conductive mesh. The current in the second electrically conductive mesh can be detected and used for measurement or alarm. The detector can be used for area, personnel and equipment monitoring.

An alpha particledetector capable of detecting alpha radiation from distant sources. In one embodiment, a high voltage is generated in a first electrically conductive mesh while a fan draws air containing air molecules ionized by alpha particles through an air passage and across a second electrically conductive mesh. The current in the second electrically conductive mesh can be detected and used for measurement or alarm. The detector can be used for area, personnel and equipment monitoring.

Amongst its complement of particles and fields instruments, the Galileo spacecraft carries an Energetic ParticlesDetector (EPD) designed to measure the characteristics of particle populations important in determining the size, shape, and dynamics of the Jovian magnetosphere. To do this the EPD provides 4pi angular coverage and spectral measurements for Z greater than or equal to 1 ions from 20 keV to 55 MeV, for electrons from 15 keV to greater than 11 MeV, and for the elemental species helium through iron from approximately 10 keV/nucl to 15 MeV/nucl. Two bidirectional telescopes, mounted on a stepping platform, employ magnetic deflection, energy loss versus energy, and time-of-flight techniques to provide 64 rate channels and pulse height analysis of priority selected events. The EPD data system provides a large number of possible operational modes from which a small number will be selected to optimize data collection during the many encounter and cruise phases of the mission. The EPD employs a number of safeing algorithms that are to be used in the event that its self-checking procedures indicate a problem. The instrument and its operation are described.

The particle measurement subsystem planned for the MJS 77 mission is described. Scientific objectives with respect to Saturn's rings are as follows: (1) measure particles outside the visible rings, including particulates orbiting in more distant rings and particles scattered out of visible rings, (2) measure meteoroid environment in vicinity of Saturn, and (3) develop an understanding of the dynamics of the rings with respect to their collisional interaction with the environment.

The back surface of a thinned charged-coupled device (CCD) is treated to eliminate the backside potential well that appears in a conventional thinned CCD during backside illumination. The backside of the CCD includes a delta layer of high-concentration dopant confined to less than one monolayer of the crystal semiconductor. The thinned, delta-doped CCD is used to detect very low-energyparticles that penetrate less than 1.0 nm into the CCD, including electrons having energies less than 1000 eV and protons having energies less than 10 keV.

The possibility of using an inflatable, gas-filled balloon as a TeV gamma-ray detector on the moon is considered. By taking an atmosphere of Xenon gas there, or by extracting it on the moon, a layman's detector design is presented. In spite of its shortcomings, the exercise illustrates several of the novel features offered by particle physics on the moon.

Aqueous sodium hydroxide is widely used to develop charged particle tracks in polycarbonate film, particularly Lexan. The chemical nature of the etching process for this system has been determined. A method employing ultra-violet absorbance was developed for monitoring the concentration of the etch products in solution. Using this method it was possible to study the formation of the etching solution saturated in etch products. It was found that the system super-saturates to a significant extent before precipitation occurs. It was also learned that the system approaches its equilibrium state rather slowly. It is felt that both these phenomena may be due to the presence of surfactant in the solution. In light of these findings, suggestions are given regarding the preparation and maintenance of the saturated etch solution. Two additional research projects, involving automated techniques for particle track analysis and particle identification using AgCl crystals, are briefly summarized.

High performance particledetectors are needed for fundamental research in high energy physics in the exploration of the Higgs boson, dark matter, anti-matter, gravitational waves and proof of the standard model, which will extend the understanding of our Universe. Future particledetectors should have ultrahigh radiation hardness, low power consumption, high spatial resolution and fast signal response. Unfortunately, some of these properties are counter-influencing for the conventional silicon drift detectors (SDDs), so that they cannot be optimized simultaneously. In this paper, the main issues of conventional SDDs have been analyzed, and a novel core-shell detector design based on micro- and nano-structures etched into Si-wafers is proposed. It is expected to simultaneously reach ultrahigh radiation hardness, low power consumption, fast signal response and high spatial resolution down to the sub-micrometer range, which will probably meet the requirements for the most powerful particle accelerators in the near future. A prototype core-shell detector was fabricated using modern silicon nanotechnology and the functionality was tested using electron-beam-induced current measurements. Such a high performance detector will open many new applications in extreme radiation environments such as high energy physics, astrophysics, high resolution (bio-) imaging and crystallography, which will push these fields beyond their current boundaries.

The manner in which particle physicists investigate collisions in particle accelerators is a puzzling process. Using vaguely-defined “detectors,” scientists are able to somehow reconstruct the collisions and convert that information into physics measurements. In this video, Fermilab’s Dr. Don Lincoln sheds light on this mysterious technique. In a surprising analogy, he draws a parallel between experimental particle physics and bomb squad investigators and uses an explosive example to illustrate his points. Be sure to watch this video… it’s totally the bomb.

A system and method for detecting and quantizing particle fallout contamination particles which are collected on a transparent disk or other surface employs an optical detector, such as a CCD camera, to obtain images of the disk and a computer for analyzing the images. From the images, the computer detects, counts and sizes particles collected on the disk The computer also determines, through comparison to previously analyzed images, the particle fallout rate, and generates an alarm or other indication if the rate exceeds a maximum allowable value. The detector and disk are disposed in a housing having an aperture formed therein for defining the area on the surface of the disk which is exposed to the particle fallout. A light source is provided for evenly illuminating the disk. A first drive motor slowly rotates the disk to increase the amount of its surface area which is exposed through the aperture to the particle fallout. A second motor is also provided for incrementally scanning the disk in a radial direction back and forth over the camera so that the camera eventually obtains images of the entire surface of the disk which is exposed to the particle fallout.

This thesis presents a design for a 10,000 ton liquid scintillator neutrino detector being considered for the MINOS project at Fermilab. Details of designing, manufacturing, and assembling the active detector components are presented. The detector consists of 1080 magnetized steel absorber planes alternating with 1080 active detector planes. Each active plane is made up of plastic extrusions divided into nearly 400 cells for positional resolution. Life tests on the plastic extrusions determine their feasibility for containing the scintillator. The extrusions are sealed at the bottom, filled with liquid scintillator, and have an optical fiber running the entire length of each cell. The fibers terminate at the top of each extrusion in a manifold. An optical-fiber-light-guide connects the fibers in each manifold to a photo-detector. The photo-detector converts the light signals from the scintillator and optical fibers into electrical impulses for computer analysis.

Disclosed below are representative embodiments of methods, apparatus, and systems for detecting particles, such as radiation or charged particles. One exemplary embodiment disclosed herein is particledetector comprising an optical fiber with a first end and second end opposite the first end. The optical fiber of this embodiment further comprises a doped region at the first end and a non-doped region adjacent to the doped region. The doped region of the optical fiber is configured to scintillate upon interaction with a target particle, thereby generating one or more photons that propagate through the optical fiber and to the second end. Embodiments of the disclosed technology can be used in a variety of applications, including associated particle imaging and cold neutron scattering.

Disclosed below are representative embodiments of methods, apparatus, and systems for detecting particles, such as radiation or charged particles. One exemplary embodiment disclosed herein is particledetector comprising an optical fiber with a first end and second end opposite the first end. The optical fiber of this embodiment further comprises a doped region at the first end and a non-doped region adjacent to the doped region. The doped region of the optical fiber is configured to scintillate upon interaction with a target particle, thereby generating one or more photons that propagate through the optical fiber and to the second end. Embodiments of the disclosed technology can be used in a variety of applications, including associated particle imaging and cold neutron scattering.

We have measured the charge, energy and linear energy transfer (LET) spectra of about 800 high LET (LET(sub infinity) H2O greater than 50 keV/micron) particles in CR-39 plastic nuclear track detectors in the P0006 experiment of LDEF. Primary particles with residual range at the reference surface greater than about 2 microns and secondary particles produced in the detector material with total range greater than about 4 microns were measured. We have used a multi-etch technique and an internal calibration to identify and measure the energy of the particles at the reference surface. The LET spectrum was obtained from the charge and energy distribution of the particles.

We investigate particledetector responses in some topologically non-trivial spacetimes. We extend a recently proposed regularization of the massless scalar field Wightman function in four-dimensional Minkowski space to arbitrary dimension, to the massive scalar field, to quotients of Minkowski space under discrete isometry groups and to the massless Dirac field. We investigate in detail the transition rate of inertial and uniformly accelerated detectors on the quotient spaces under groups generated by (t,x,y,z)-bar (t,x,y,z+2a), (t,x,y,z)-bar (t,-x,y,z), (t,x,y,z)-bar (t,-x,-y,z), (t,x,y,z)-bar (t,-x,-y,z+a) and some higher dimensional generalizations. For motions in at constant y and z on the latter three spaces the response is time dependent. We also discuss the response of static detectors on the RP{sup 3} geon and inertial detectors on RP{sup 3} de Sitter space via their associated global embedding Minkowski spaces (GEMS). The response on RP{sup 3} de Sitter space, found both directly and in its GEMS, provides support for the validity of applying the GEMS procedure to detector responses and to quotient spaces such as RP{sup 3} de Sitter space and the RP{sup 3} geon where the embedding spaces are Minkowski spaces with suitable identifications.

This paper presents a low-noise wide-dynamic-range pixel design for a high-energyparticledetector in astronomical applications. A silicon on insulator (SOI) based detector is used for the detection of wide energy range of high energyparticles (mainly for X-ray). The sensor has a thin layer of SOI CMOS readout circuitry and a thick layer of high-resistivity detector vertically stacked in a single chip. Pixel circuits are divided into two parts; signal sensing circuit and event detection circuit. The event detection circuit consisting of a comparator and logic circuits which detect the incidence of high energyparticle categorizes the incident photon it into two energy groups using an appropriate energy threshold and generate a two-bit code for an event and energy level. The code for energy level is then used for selection of the gain of the in-pixel amplifier for the detected signal, providing a function of high-dynamic-range signal measurement. The two-bit code for the event and energy level is scanned in the event scanning block and the signals from the hit pixels only are read out. The variable-gain in-pixel amplifier uses a continuous integrator and integration-time control for the variable gain. The proposed design allows the small signal detection and wide dynamic range due to the adaptive gain technique and capability of correlated double sampling (CDS) technique of kTC noise canceling of the charge detector.

We evaluate the effects of high-energy ionizing particles on the Si:As impurity band conduction (IBC) mid-infrared detector on board AKARI, the Japanese infrared astronomical satellite. IBC-type detectors are known to be little influenced by ionizing radiation. However, we find that the detector is significantly affected by in-orbit ionizing radiation even after spikes induced by ionizing particles are removed. The effects are described as changes mostly in the offset of detector output, but not in the gain. We conclude that the changes in the offset are caused mainly by increase in dark current. We establish a method to correct these ionizing radiation effects. The method is essential to improve the quality and to increase the sky coverage of the AKARI mid-infrared all-sky-survey map.

A brief discussion is given of the characteristics required of new accelerator facilities, leading into a discussion of the required detectors, including position sensitive detectors, particle identification, and calorimeters. (LEW)

An electronically shielded solid state charged particledetector system having enhanced radio frequency interference immunity includes a detector housing with a detector entrance opening for receiving the charged particles. A charged particledetector having an active surface is disposed within the housing. The active surface faces toward the detector entrance opening for providing electrical signals representative of the received charged particles when the received charged particles are applied to the active surface. A conductive layer is disposed upon the active surface. In a preferred embodiment, a nonconductive layer is disposed between the conductive layer and the active surface. The conductive layer is electrically coupled to the detector housing to provide a substantially continuous conductive electrical shield surrounding the active surface. The inner surface of the detector housing is supplemented with a radio frequency absorbing material such as ferrite. 1 fig.

An electronically shielded solid state charged particledetector system having enhanced radio frequency interference immunity includes a detector housing with a detector entrance opening for receiving the charged particles. A charged particledetector having an active surface is disposed within the housing. The active surface faces toward the detector entrance opening for providing electrical signals representative of the received charged particles when the received charged particles are applied to the active surface. A conductive layer is disposed upon the active surface. In a preferred embodiment, a nonconductive layer is disposed between the conductive layer and the active surface. The conductive layer is electrically coupled to the detector housing to provide a substantially continuous conductive electrical shield surrounding the active surface. The inner surface of the detector housing is supplemented with a radio frequency absorbing material such as ferrite.

An electronically shielded solid state charged particledetector system having enhanced radio frequency interference immunity includes a detector housing with a detector entrance opening for receiving the charged particles. A charged particledetector having an active surface is disposed within the housing. The active surface faces toward the detector entrance opening for providing electrical signals representative of the received charged particles when the received charged particles are applied to the active surface. A conductive layer is disposed upon the active surface. In a preferred embodiment, a nonconductive layer is disposed between the conductive layer and the active surface. The conductive layer is electrically coupled to the detector housing to provide a substantially continuous conductive electrical shield surrounding the active surface. The inner surface of the detector housing is supplemented with a radio frequency absorbing material such as ferrite.

Intended to guide college physicists to literature on nuclear and sub-nuclear particledetectors. The paper contains a discussion of (1) interactions of particles with matter and (2) individual particledetectors, each section being followed by an annotated bibliography of selected reference materials. Rankings are given to the articles on the…

The Universal ParticleDetector Experiment (UPDE), which consists of parallel planes of two diode laser beams of different wavelengths and a large surface metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) impact detector, is proposed. It will be used to perform real-time monitoring of contamination particles and meteoroids impacting the spacecraft surface with high resolution of time, position, direction, and velocity. The UPDE will discriminate between contaminants and meteoroids, and will determine their velocity and size distribution around the spacecraft environment. With two different color diode lasers, the contaminant and meteroid composition will also be determined based on laboratory calibration with different materials. Secondary particles dislodged from the top aluminum surface of the MOS detector will also be measured to determine the kinetic energy losses during energetic meteoroid impacts. The velocity range of this instrument is 0.1 m/s to more than 14 km/s, while its size sensitivity is from 0.2 microns to millimeter-sized particles. The particulate measurements in space of the kind proposed will be the first simultaneous multipurpose particulate experiment that includes velocities from very slow to hypervelocities, sizes from submicrometer- to pellet-sized diameters, chemical analysis of the particulate composition, and measurements of the kinetic energy losses after energetic impacts of meteroids. The experiment will provide contamination particles and orbital debris data that are critically needed for our present understanding of the space environment. The data will also be used to validate contamination and orbital debris models for predicting optimal configuration of future space sensors and for understanding their effects on sensitive surfaces such as mirrors, lenses, paints, and thermal blankets.

Grant NAG5-5084 was awarded to support the participation of South West Research Institute (SwRI) in building the energy per unit charge particledetectors for the Cusp Transient Features Campaign and analysis of flight data from these instruments. The detectors are part of an instrumented payload (Rocket 36.152, Dr. R. Pfaff, P.I.) launched from Svalbard on December 3, 1997, into the dark cusp. The particle instruments, a Cusp Electron Detector (CED) and a Cusp Ion Detector (CID), built on this project, provided differential energy and angular measurements along the rocket trajectory throughout the flight.

A radiation or charged particledetector is described which incorporates a channel multiplier structure to amplify the detected rays or particles. The channel multiplier structure has a support multiplying element with a longitudinal slot along one side. The element supports a pair of plates positioned contiguous with the slot. The plates funnel the particles or rays to be detected into the slotted aperture and the element, thus creating an effectively wide aperture detector of the windowless type.

Since the first application of Silicon strip detectors in high energy physics in the early 1980ies these detectors have enabled the experiments to perform new challenging measurements. With these devices it became possible to determine the decay lengths of heavy quarks, for example in the fixed target experiment NA11 at CERN. In this experiment Silicon tracking detectors were used for the identification of particles containing a c-quark. Later on, the experiments at the Large Electron Positron collider at CERN used already larger and sophisticated assemblies of Silicon detectors to identify and study particles containing the b-quark. A very important contribution to the discovery of the last of the six quarks, the top quark, has been made by even larger Silicon vertex detectors inside the experiments CDF and D0 at Fermilab. Nowadays a mature detector technology, the use of Silicon detectors is no longer restricted to the vertex regions of collider experiments. The two multipurpose experiments ATLAS and CMS at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN contain large tracking detectors made of Silicon. The largest is the CMS Inner Tracker consisting of 200 m{sup 2} of Silicon sensor area. These detectors will be very important for a possible discovery of the Higgs boson or of Super Symmetric particles. This paper explains the first applications of Silicon sensors in particle physics and describes the continuous development of this technology up to the construction of the state of the art Silicon detector of CMS.

Operation of detectors of charged particles such as wire counters and Geiger-Muller tubes is improved by filling the counters with a quenching-gas mixture of argon, isobutane and methylchloroform. (Official Gazette)

This report describes the improvements in understanding of transport phenomena in cadmium zinc telluride radiation sensors achieved through studies of alpha particle response and spatially resolved photoconductivity mapping. Alpha particle response waveforms and photocurrent profiles both indicate non-uniformities in the electric field which may have detrimental effects on detector performance. Identifying and eliminating the sources of these nonuniformities will ultimately lead to improved detector performance.

A low energyparticledetector system (SLED) is described which was designed to measure the flux densities of electrons and ions in the energy range from ~30 keV to a few MeV in (a) the varying solar aspect angles and temperatures pertaining during the Cruise Phase of the Phobos Mission and (b) in the low temperature environment (reaching -25° C) pertaining during Mars Encounter. Representative data illustrating the excellent functioning of SLED during both phases of the mission are presented.

There is great interest in expanding the use of solid state detectors (SSD) in the field of particle detection. For instance, extending the sensitivity of the detectors to lower energyparticles could allow for simpler and thus smaller instrument designs. Several new technologies have been introduced recently in the region of semiconductor material for SSDs. This work will compare some of the more promising technologies to SSD material currently being used. In particular recent results from several laboratories make it possible to compare the properties of "100% internal quantum efficiency silicon photodiode", delta doped silicon, and silicon carbide (SiC) detectors and to compare these new technologies to pure silicon and germanium SSDs. The properties of interest are the detectors gain, ability to withstand the temperature extremes of space environments, radiation hardness, and responses to incident particles mass and energy particularly at low energies.

The article describes the device for selective registration of electrons, protons and heavy ions fluxes from the solar and galactic cosmic rays in the twelve energy ranges, built on a base of diamond detector. The use of the diamond detectors allowed for the creation a device for registration of cosmic particles fluxes at the external spacecraft surface with the resource not less than 20 years. Selective detector is aimed for continuous monitoring of radiation situation on board the spacecrafts, in order to predict the residual life of their work and prompt measures to actively protect the spacecraft when the flow of cosmic particles is sharply increased.

With the 1983 issue of LBL-91 we introduce a supplement - a folio of descriptions of the world's major elementary particle physics detectors. Modern high energy physics usually involves the use of massive, costly, carefully engineered, large solid angle detectors. These detectors require a long lead time for construction, are often integrated with an accelerator, accumulate data over many years, and are in reality a combination of numerous subsystems. As was the case with bubble chambers, many experiments are performed with the same data, or with data taken after relatively minor changes or additions to the detector configuration. These experiments are often reported in journals whose space limitations make repeated full descriptions of the detector impossible. The detailed properties and performance of the detector are usually described in a fragmented series of papers in more specialized, technologically oriented journals. New additions are often not well documented. Several detectors often make similar measurements and physicists want to make quick comparisons of their respective capabilities. Designers of new large detectors and even of smaller experiments need to know what already exists and what performance has been achieved. To aid the physics community, the Particle Data Group has produced this brief folio of the world's major large detectors. This first edition has some notable omissions: in particular, the bubble chambers and any associated spectrometers, and the still somewhat tentative LEP, SLC, and TRISTAN detectors.

We review progress in the development and applications of superconducting nano-strip particledetectors. Particledetectors based on superconducting nano-strips stem from the parent devices developed for single photon detection (SSPD) and share with them ultra-fast response times (sub-nanosecond) and the ability to operate at a relatively high temperature (2-5 K) compared with other cryogenic detectors. SSPDs have been used in the detection of electrons, neutral and charged ions, and biological macromolecules; nevertheless, the development of superconducting nano-strip particledetectors has mainly been driven by their use in time-of-flight mass spectrometers (TOF-MSs) where the goal of 100% efficiency at large mass values can be achieved. Special emphasis will be given to this case, reporting on the great progress which has been achieved and which permits us to overcome the limitations of existing mass spectrometers represented by low detection efficiency at large masses and charge/mass ambiguity. Furthermore, such progress could represent a breakthrough in the field. In this review article we will introduce the device concept and detection principle, stressing the peculiarities of the nano-strip particledetector as well as its similarities with photon detectors. The development of parallel strip configuration is introduced and extensively discussed, since it has contributed to the significant progress of TOF-MS applications.

Active detectors used as radiation monitors in space are not usually able to perform Particle Identification (PID). Common techniques need energy loss spectra with high statistics to estimate ion abundances. The ALTEA-space detector system is a set of silicon strip particle telescopes monitoring the radiation environment on board the International Space Station since July 2006 with real-time telemetry capabilities. Its large geometrical factor due to the concurrent use of six detectors permits the acquisition of good energy loss spectra even in a short period of observation. In this paper we present a novel Fast Probabilistic Particle Identification (FPPI) algorithm developed for the ALTEA data analysis in order to perform nuclear identification with low statistics and, with some limitations, also in real time.

Previous EAS investigations have shown that for a fixed primary energy the charged particle density becomes independent of the primary mass at certain (fixed) distances from the shower core. This feature can be used as an estimator for the primary energy. We present results on the reconstruction of the primary energy spectrum of cosmic rays from the experimentally recorded S(500) observable (the density of charged particles at 500 m distance to the shower core) using the KASCADE-Grande detector array. The KASCADE-Grande experiment is hosted by the Karlsruhe Institute for Technology-Campus North, Karlsruhe, Germany, and operated by an international collaboration. The constant intensity cut (CIC) method is applied to evaluate the attenuation of the S(500) observable with the zenith angle and is corrected for. A calibration of S(500) values with the primary energy has been worked out by simulations and was applied to the data to obtain the primary energy spectrum (in the energy range log10[E0/GeV]∈[7.5,9]). The systematic uncertainties induced by different sources are considered. In addition, a correction based on a response matrix is applied to account for the effects of shower-to-shower fluctuations on the spectral index of the reconstructed energy spectrum.

The objective of this work is to test analytical models to calculate the luminescence efficiency of Al(2)O(3):C optically stimulated luminescence detectors (OSLDs) exposed to heavy charged particles with energies relevant to space dosimetry and particle therapy. We used the track structure model to obtain an analytical expression for the relative luminescence efficiency based on the average radial dose distribution produced by the heavy charged particle. We compared the relative luminescence efficiency calculated using seven different radial dose distribution models, including a modified model introduced in this work, with experimental data. The results obtained using the modified radial dose distribution function agreed within 20% with experimental data from Al(2)O(3):C OSLDs relative luminescence efficiency for particles with atomic number ranging from 1 to 54 and linear energy transfer in water from 0.2 up to 1368 keV µm(-1). In spite of the significant improvement over other radial dose distribution models, understanding of the underlying physical processes associated with these radial dose distribution models remain elusive and may represent a limitation of the track structure model. PMID:22173080

The Charged ParticleDetector (CPD) subsystem of the ISS-RAD detector has been making measurements of high-energy charged and neutral particles since the unit was deployed on Feb. 1, 2016. The CPD is nearly identical to the MSL-RAD instrument, but onboard data processing has been significantly modified to meet ISS requirements. We will present dose rates and LET spectra obtained over the first six months of operations, as well as preliminary results obtained from the limited sample of pulse-height analyzed raw data that has been telemetered to Earth.

Scintillation detectors for alpha particles are often used in nuclear fuel facilities. Alpha particledetectors have also become important in the research field of radionuclide therapy using alpha emitters. ZnS(Ag) is the most often used scintillator for alpha particledetectors because its light output is high. However, the energy resolution of ZnS(Ag)-based scintillation detectors is poor because they are not transparent. A new ceramic sample, namely the cerium doped Gd2Si2O7 (GPS) scintillator, has been tested as alpha particledetector and its performances have been compared to that one of three different scintillating materials: ZnS(Ag), GAGG and a standard plastic scintillator. The different scintillating materials have been coupled to two different photodetectors, namely a photomultiplier tube (PMT) and a Silicon Photo-multiplier (Si-PM): the performances of each detection system have been compared. Promising results as far as the energy resolution performances (10% with PMT and 14% with Si-PM) have been obtained in the case of GPS and GAGG samples. Considering the quantum efficiencies of the photodetectors under test and their relation to the emission wavelength of the different scintillators, the best results were achieved coupling the GPS with the PMT and the GAGG with the Si-PM

The Univ. of Maryland portion investigated the following areas. The Space Physics Group performed studies of data from the AMPTE/CCE spacecraft CHEM experiment and found that the ratio of solar wind to photospheric abundances decreased rather smoothly with the first ionization potential (FIP) of the ion with the low FIP ion being about a factor of two overabundant. Carbon and hydrogen fit this trend particularly well. Several occurrences were analyzed of field aligned beams observed when CCE was upstream of the Earth's bow shock. Also using CHEM data, ring current intensity and composition changes during the main and recovery phases of the great geomagnetic storm that occurred in February 1986 was examined in detail. Still using CHEM data, ring current characteristics were examined in a survey of 20 magnetic storms ranging in size from -50 nT to -312 nT. A study was done of energetic ion anisotropy characteristics in the Earth's magnetosheath region using data from the UMD/MPE experiment on ISEE-1. The properties were analyzed of approx. 30 to 130 keV/e protons and alpha particles upstream of six quasi-parallel interplanetary shocks that passed by the ISEE-3 spacecraft during 1978 to 1979. Work from NASA-Goddard include studies from the High Energy Cosmic Ray Group, Low Energy Cosmic Ray Group, Low Energy Gamma Ray Group, High Energy Astrophysics Theory Group, and the X ray Astronomy Group.

A microchannel plate (MCP) assembly has been used as an ion detector in the low energyparticle (LEP) instrument onboard the magnetospheric satellite GEOTAIL. Recently the MCP assembly has detected gamma rays emitted from an astronomical object and has been shown to provide unique information of gamma rays if they are intense enough. However, the detection efficiency for gamma rays was not measured before launch, and therefore we could not analyze the LEP data quantitatively. In this article, we report the gamma-ray detection efficiency of the MCP assembly. The measured efficiencies are 1.29%{+-}0.71% and 0.21%{+-}0.14% for normal incidence 60 and 662 keV gamma rays, respectively. The incident angle dependence is also presented. Our calibration is crucial to study high energy astrophysical phenomena by using the LEP.

The basic properties of high-quality CVD diamond film make them very interesting for a wide range of detectors: they are radiation hard, provide fast signals, show very low leakage current even in high radiation environments, have excellent thermal properties and can be manufactured as free-standing detectors. This paper will give an overview of recent test results on polycrystalline and single crystal CVD diamond detectors. Large polycrystalline CVD diamonds with a charge collection distance up to 300 m have been tested and are used to build prototype tracking detectors and beam monitors at the moment. Further irradiation studies have been carried out using a 24 GeV proton beam to test samples up to a total fluence of 1.8 × 1016 protons/cm2. Measurements on several samples of single-crystal CVD diamonds have shown full charge collection in the detector. Results of transient-current measurements on single crystal CVD diamonds, which are used to determine the charge carrier mobility and lifetime, show the excellent electrical properties of this material. The paper will present several different applications of CVD diamond detectors, which benefit from the recent improvements of detector-grade diamonds. They range from tracking in High Energy Physics experiments, to high-speed Beam Conditions Monitor at the collider experiments up to CVD diamond detectors as beam diagnostic in proton cancer therapy.

We examine Fe charge state distributions in the solar wind. The ionic composition of the solar wind directly reflects corona conditions within 4 5 solar radii. Charge state information can be used to determine coronal electron temperatures of source region plasma. Examination of the Fe charge states obtained by the Solar Wind Ion Composition Spectrometer (SWICS) on the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE), shows a high correlation of the abundance ratio of Fe≥16+/FeTot > 10% with interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs) observed at 1 A.U. We designate these as “hot ICMEs” due to their associated high charge states. We use the abundance ratio to develop a threshold average Fe charge state, threshold , applicable to charge state data from other spacecraft unable to determine charge state abundances. Applying the threshold to in-ecliptic data from ACE and data from Ulysses along its polar orbit, we identify hot ICMEs as a function of latitude. We find a factor of four fewer hot ICMEs at high latitude than in the ecliptic. After studying features on the Sun near the time of the ICME eruption, we determine that solar flares are likely the source of the observed high Fe charge states. This result has important implications in understanding the relationship between solar flares and CMEs. For years, a controversy has existed over the causal relationship between flares and CMEs. Now, through the work of this thesis, compositional data provides convincing evidence of an association of flares and CMEs. In addition, we also characterize a new delta-doped charge-coupled device (CCD). The new delta-doped CCD has a dead layer that is ˜1/10 th the thickness of previous SSDs used in ACE/SWIGS. Using this detector, we are able to detect H+ and N+ ions with energies ranging from 1 10 keV in the laboratory. This is a remarkable increase in sensitivity for solid-state particledetectors which currently can only detect particles with energies >30 keV. Application of

A non-dispersive electrostatic energy analyzer for electrons and other charged particles having a generally coaxial structure of a sequentially arranged sections of an electrostatic lens to focus the beam through an iris and preferably including an ellipsoidally shaped input grid for collimating a wide acceptance beam from a charged-particle source, an electrostatic high-pass filter including a planar exit grid, and an electrostatic low-pass filter. The low-pass filter is configured to reflect low-energyparticles back towards a charged particledetector located within the low-pass filter. Each section comprises multiple tubular or conical electrodes arranged about the central axis. The voltages on the lens are scanned to place a selected energy band of the accepted beam at a selected energy at the iris. Voltages on the high-pass and low-pass filters remain substantially fixed during the scan.

An alpha particledetector, utilizing alternating currents, which is capable of detecting alpha particles from distinct sources. The use of alternating currents allows use of simpler ac circuits which, in turn, are not susceptible to dc error components. It also allows the benefit of gas gain, if desired. In the invention, a voltage source creates an electric field between two conductive grids, and between the grids and a conductive enclosure. Air containing air ions created by collision with alpha particles is drawn into the enclosure and detected. In some embodiments, the air flow into the enclosure is interrupted, creating an alternating flow of ions. In another embodiment, a modulated voltage is applied to the grid, also modulating the detection of ions.

An alpha particledetector, utilizing alternating currents, whcih is capable of detecting alpha particles from distinct sources. The use of alternating currents allows use of simpler ac circuits which, in turn, are not susceptible to dc error components. It also allows the benefit of gas gain, if desired. In the invention, a voltage source creates an electric field between two conductive grids, and between the grids and a conductive enclosure. Air containing air ions created by collision with alpha particles is drawn into the enclosure and detected. In some embodiments, the air flow into the enclosure is interrupted, creating an alternating flow of ions. In another embodiment, a modulated voltage is applied to the grid, also modulating the detection of ions.

Having recognized at an early stage the critical importance of maintaining detector capabilities which utilize state of the art techniques, a joint program was formulated. This program has involved coordination of a broad range of efforts and activities including joint experiments, collaboration in theoretical studies, instrument design, calibrations, and data analysis. Summaries of the progress made to date are presented. A representative bibliography is also included.

We have recently evaluated the quality of γ-ray angular distributions that can be extracted in particle-gamma coincidence measurements using the CHIMERA detector at LNS. γ-rays have been detected using the CsI(Tl) detectors of the spherical part of the CHIMERA array. Very clean γ-rays angular distributions were extracted in reactions induced by different stable beams impinging on 12C thin targets. The results evidenced an effect of projectile spin flip on the γ-rays angular distributions. γ-particle coincidence measurements were also performed in reactions induced by neutron rich exotic beams produced through in-flight fragmentation at LNS. In recent experiments also the Farcos array was used to improve energy and angular resolution measurements of the detected charged particles. Results obtained with both stable and radioactive beams are reported.

The International Space Station (ISS) Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) is an intravehicular energetic particledetector designed to measure a broad spectrum of charged particle and neutron radiation unique to the ISS radiation environment. In this presentation, a summary of calibration and readiness of the RAD Sensor Head (RSH) - also referred to as the Charged ParticleDetector (CPD) - for ISS will be presented. Calibration for the RSH consists of p, He, C, O, Si, and Fe ion data collected at the NASA Space Radiation Laboratory (NSRL) and Indiana University Cyclotron Facility (IUCF). The RSH consists of four detectors used in measuring the spectroscopy of charged particles - A, B, C, and D; high-energy neutral particles and charged particles are measured in E; and the last detector - F - is an anti-coincidence detector. A, B, and C are made from Si; D is made from BGO; E and F are made from EJ260XL plastic scintillator.

Finding the standard model Higgs boson and discovering beyond-standard model physics phenomena have been the most important goals for the high-energy physics in the last decades. In this thesis, we present two such searches. First is the search for the low mass standard model Higgs boson produced in association with a vector boson; second is the rst search for a dark-matter candidate (D) produced in association with a top quark (t) in particle colliders. We search in events with energetic jets and large missing transverse energy { a signature characterized by complicated backgrounds { in data collected by the CDF detector with proton-antiproton collisions at p s = 1:96 TeV. We discuss the techniques that have been developed for background modeling, for discriminating signal from background, and for reducing background resulting from detector e ects. In the Higgs search, we report the 95% con dence level upper limits on the pro- duction cross section across masses of 90 to 150 GeV/c2. The expected limits are improved by an average of 14% relative to the previous analysis. The Large Hadron Collider experiments reported a Higgs-like particle with mass of 125 GeV/c2 by study- ing the data collected in year 2011/12. At a Higgs boson mass of 125 GeV/c2, our observed (expected) limit is 3.06 (3.33) times the standard model prediction, corre- sponding to one of the most sensitive searches to date in this nal state. In the dark matter search, we nd the data are consistent with the standard model prediction, thus set 95% con dence level upper limits on the cross section of the process p p ! t + D as a function of the mass of the dark-matter candidate. The xviii upper limits are approximately 0.5 pb for a dark-matter particle with masses in the range of 0 􀀀 150 GeV/c2.

It is my task to summarise the great variety of topics (covering a refreshing mix of physics, chemistry and technology) presented at this conference, which has focused on the effects of ionising radiation on scintillators and other particledetectors. One of the reasons and the central interest of many of the participants was the use of such detectors in experiments at two future large hadron colliders: the Superconducting Super Collider to be operating outside of Dallas in the United States by the turn of the decade and its European counterpart the Large Hadron Collider to be operating outside of Geneva in Switzerland on a similar time scale. These accelerators are the apple of the high energy physicist's eye.'' Their goal is to uncover the elusive Higgs particle and thereby set the cornerstone in our current knowledge of elementary particle interactions. This is the Quest, and from this lofty height the presentations rapidly moved on to the specific questions of experimental science: how such an experiment is carried out; why radiation damage is an issue; how radiation damage affects detectors; which factors affect radiation damage characteristics; which factors are not affected by radiation damage; and how better detectors may be constructed. These were the substance of this conference.

Several extensions of the Standard Model predict the existence of charged, very massive, and long-lived particles. Because of their high masses these particles would propagate non-relativistically through the ATLAS pixel detector and are therefore be identifiable through a measurement of large specific energy loss. Measuring heavy, long-lived particles through their track parameters in the pixel detector allows sensitivity to particles with lifetimes in the nanosecond range and above. This search presents an inner detector driven method for identifying such particles in proton-proton collisions at 13 TeV with the 2015 dataset corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 3.5 pb-1.

This paper details the response of a triple GEM detector with a 55 μmetre pitch pixelated ASIC for readout. The detector is operated as a micro TPC with 9.5 cm3 sensitive volume and characterized with a mixed beam of 120 GeV protons and positive pions. A process for reconstruction of incident particle tracks from individual ionization clusters is described and scans of the gain and drift fields are performed. The angular resolution of the measured tracks is characterized. Also, the readout was operated in a mixed mode where some pixels measure drift time and others charge. This was used to measure the energy deposition in the detector and the charge cloud size as a function of interaction depth. The future uses of the device, including in microdosimetry are discussed.

MINOS is a long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment designed to search for conclusive evidence of neutrino oscillations and to measure the oscillation parameters precisely. MINOS comprises two iron tracking calorimeters located at Fermilab and Soudan. The Calibration Detector at CERN is a third MINOS detector used as part of the detector response calibration programme. A correct energy calibration between these detectors is crucial for the accurate measurement of oscillation parameters. This thesis presents a calibration developed to produce a uniform response within a detector using cosmic muons. Reconstruction of tracks in cosmic ray data is discussed. This data is utilized to calculate calibration constants for each readout channel of the Calibration Detector. These constants have an average statistical error of 1.8%. The consistency of the constants is demonstrated both within a single run and between runs separated by a few days. Results are presented from applying the calibration to test beam particles measured by the Calibration Detector. The responses are calibrated to within 1.8% systematic error. The potential impact of the calibration on the measurement of oscillation parameters by MINOS is also investigated. Applying the calibration reduces the errors in the measured parameters by {approx} 10%, which is equivalent to increasing the amount of data by 20%.

Large open volume (not segmented) liquid scintillation detectors have been generally dedicated to low energy neutrino measurements, in the MeV energy region. We describe the potential employment of large detectors (>1 kiloton) for studies of higher energy neutrino interactions, such as cosmic rays and long-baseline experiments. When considering the physics potential of new large instruments the possibility of doing useful measurements with higher energy neutrino interactions has been overlooked. Here we take into account Fermat's principle, which states that the first light to reach each PMT will follow the shortest path between that PMT and the point of origin. We describe the geometry of this process, and the resulting wavefront, which we are calling the 'Fermat surface', and discuss methods of using this surface to extract directional track information and particle identification. This capability may be demonstrated in the new long-baseline neutrino beam from Jaeri accelerator to the KamLAND detector in Japan. Other exciting applications include the use of Hanohano as a movable long-baseline detector in this same beam, and LENA in Europe for future long-baseline neutrino beams from CERN. Also, this methodology opens up the question as to whether a large liquid scintillator detector should be given consideration for use in a future long-baseline experiment from Fermilab to the DUSEL underground laboratory at Homestake.

Discussion of techniques currently used in high energyparticle astronomy for measuring charged and neutral cosmic rays and their isotope and momentum distribution. Derived from methods developed for accelerator experiments in particle physics, these techniques help perform important particle astronomy experiments pertaining to nuclear cosmic ray and gamma ray research, electron and position probes, and antimatter searches.

Two lightweight telescope detector systems, codenamed SLED-1 and SLED-2, with the capability to monitor electron and ion fluxes within an energy range spanning 34 keV to a few tens of MeV, were launched on the twin spacecraft of the Soviet Phobos Mission to Mars and its moons in July 1988. Solar-related particle enhancements recorded during the Cruise Phase, and also in the near Martian environment, over the interval 19 July 1988-27 March 1989 while the interplanetary medium was in course of changing over from solar-minimum to solar-maximum dominated conditions, are presented. In particular, examples of signatures characterizing events associated with each of these phenomenological states are provided in the context of attempting to elucidate how the solar interplanetary medium evolves from one condition to the other.

The first measurements of Fe charge states in two coronal hole-association high speed streams, using the sensor on ISEE-3, are presented. Eight event intervals from the January to June 1983 timeframe were chosen for the study of magnetotail dynamics and its relationship to substorm activity and the possible formation of plasmoids. Techniques are being explored for measurement of secondary electrons which are characteristically emitted when ions hit a target material. Efforts are continuing to understand kilometer wavelength shock associated radio events. An all-sky survey of fast X-ray transients of duration of 5 to 10,000 s was completed. Research using high resolution gamma-ray spectroscopy of celestial sources in the 20 keV to 20 MeV range to search for and study narrow lines in low-energy gamma-ray spectrum continues. Research in high energy radiation from pulsars is being conducted.

After observation of hundreds of Thunderstorm Ground Enhancements (TGEs) we measure energy spectra of particles originated in clouds and directed towards Earth. We use these "beams" for calibration of cosmic ray detectors located beneath the clouds at an altitude of 3200 m at Mount Aragats in Armenia. The calibrations of particledetectors with fluxes of TGE gamma rays are in good agreement with simulation results and allow estimation of the energy thresholds and efficiencies of numerous particledetectors used for studying galactic and solar cosmic rays.

Methods and apparatus for measuring gravitational and inertial forces, magnetic fields, or wave or radiant energy acting on an object or fluid in space provide an electric tunneling current through a gap between an electrode and that object or fluid in space and vary that gap with any selected one of such forces, magnetic fields, or wave or radiant energy acting on that object or fluid. These methods and apparatus sense a corresponding variation in an electric property of that gap and determine the latter force, magnetic fields, or wave or radiant energy in response to that corresponding variation, and thereby sense or measure such parameters as acceleration, position, particle mass, velocity, magnetic field strength, presence or direction, or wave or radiant energy intensity, presence or direction.

Methods and apparatus for measuring gravitational and inertial forces, magnetic fields, or wave or radiant energy acting on an object or fluid in space provide an electric tunneling current through a gap between an electrode and that object or fluid in space and vary that gap with any selected one of such forces, magnetic fields, or wave or radiant energy acting on that object or fluid. These methods and apparatus sense a corresponding variation in an electric property of that gap and determine the latter force, magnetic fields, or wave or radiant energy in response to that corresponding variation, and thereby sense or measure such parameters as acceleration, position, particle mass, velocity, magnetic field strength, presence or direction, or wave or radiant energy intensity, presence or direction.

A neutron detector composed of a matrix of scintillating particles imbedded in a lithiated glass is disclosed. The neutron detector detects the neutrons by absorbing the neutron in the lithium-6 isotope which has been enriched from the natural isotopic ratio to a commercial ninety five percent. The utility of the detector is optimized by suitably selecting scintillating particle sizes in the range of the alpha and the triton. Nominal particle sizes are in the range of five to twenty five microns depending upon the specific scintillating particle selected.

This is the final report on a Cooperative Research And Development Agreement project of Los Alamos National Laboratory and Crystallume, Inc. The primary objective of the work is to develop and commercialize a new class of diamond film radiation detectors. To meet this objective, the participants first optimized the growth process of the diamond films for detector applications. Then they used the optimized diamond films to develop electrode structures that optimize detector performance for specific applications. This was accomplished by designing novel interdigitated electrode structures that enhanced the detector`s response to specific particle (or photon) energy, improved detector sensitivity, minimized response time, or optimized other useful characteristics. Finally, the participants developed multi-element devices with controlled active depths for use in x-ray and particle spectrometry and in position- sensitive (or imaging) detectors. 9 refs.

Pseudorapidity distributions of charged particles emitted in Au+Au, Cu+Cu, d+Au, and p+p collisions over a wide energy range have been measured using the PHOBOS detector at the BNL Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider (RHIC). The centrality dependence of both the charged particle distributions and the multiplicity at midrapidity were measured. Pseudorapidity distributions of charged particles emitted with |η|<5.4, which account for between 95% and 99% of the total charged-particle emission associated with collision participants, are presented for different collision centralities. Both the midrapidity density dNch/dη and the total charged-particle multiplicity Nch are found to factorize into a product of independent functions of collision energy, sNN, and centrality given in terms of the number of nucleons participating in the collision, Npart. The total charged particle multiplicity, observed in these experiments and those at lower energies, assumes a linear dependence of (lnsNN)2 over the full range of collision energy of sNN=2.7-200 GeV.

A radiation detector array and a method for measuring the spectral content of radiation. The radiation sensor or detector is an array or stack of thin solid-electrolyte batteries. The batteries, arranged in a stack, may be composed of independent battery cells or may be arranged so that adjacent cells share a common terminal surface. This common surface is possible since the polarity of the batteries with respect to an adjacent battery is unrestricted, allowing a reduction in component parts of the assembly and reducing the overall stack length. Additionally, a test jig or chamber for allowing rapid measurement of the voltage across each battery is disclosed. A multichannel recorder and display may be used to indicate the voltage gradient change across the cells, or a small computer may be used for rapidly converting these voltage readings to a graph of radiation intensity versus wavelength or energy. The behavior of the batteries when used as a radiation detector and analyzer are such that the voltage measurements can be made at leisure after the detector array has been exposed to the radiation, and it is not necessary to make rapid measurements as is now done.

The spectrometer-telescope "STEP-F" is aimed for the registration of high-energy charged particle fluxes in the near Earth space. It is planned to install the instrument on board of Russian spacecraft "Coronas-Photon" to study solar cosmic rays and dynamics of the Earth' radiation belts. Its detector system consists of two position-sensitive silicon matrices to determine the direction of the primary particles and two layers of the scintillation detectors that serve for the energy determining of these particles. First laboratory tests of detectors were made with the help of various radioactive sources and imitating signals. Radiophysical characteristics as well as temperature dependence of the energy resolution for silicon matrix element and CsI(Tl) scintillation detector are presented. In order to check the reaction extent of the detectors in high energy range the tests was carried out on the ion cyclotron accelerator of the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (RIKEN, Japan). We have used a-particle and hydrogen ion H2 beams to determine the response level and real energy range of particles registered by each layer of detectors. Simultaneously a computer simulation of deposited energies and stopping ranges for electrons, protons and alpha-particles has been done. The simulation by Monte Carlo method is made using the Cern GEANT4.2 Code under OS LINUX6.2. The experimental data obtained is in well agreement with results of Monte-Carlo simulation. It has been found, both experimentally and by simulation, that the signals coming from neighboring elements of the position-sensitive silicon matrix are not affected by secondary particles. In particular, the number of albedo secondary particles generated in the scintillator is rather small as compared to the primary particles, so that secondaries do not significantly contribute to the total intensity of recorded primary particles.

A method, system and computer program is used to determine a linear track having a good fit to a most likely or expected path of charged particle passing through a charged particledetector having a plurality of drift cells. Hit signals from the charged particledetector are associated with a particular charged particle track. An initial estimate of time zero is made from these hit signals and linear tracks are then fit to drift radii for each particular time-zero estimate. The linear track having the best fit is then searched and selected and errors in fit and tracking parameters computed. The use of large and expensive fast detectors needed to time zero in the charged particledetectors can be avoided by adopting this method and system.

A study of electrical properties and detection performance of particledetectors based on bulk InP and semiconducting LPE layers operated at room temperature is presented. Bulk detectors were fabricated on semi-insulating InP crystals grown by liquid-encapsulated Czochralski (LEC) technique. High purity InP layers of both n- and p-type conductivity were used to fabricate detector structures with p-n junction. The detection performance of particledetectors was measured by pulse-height spectra with alpha particles emitted from 241Am source at room temperature. Better noise properties were achieved for detectors with p-n junctions due to better quality contacts on p-type layers.

Improved binary and tertiary gas mixture for gas-filled particledetectors are provided. The components are chosen on the basis of the principle that the first component is one gas or mixture of two gases having a large electron scattering cross section at energies of about 0.5 eV and higher, and the second component is a gas (Ar) having a very small cross section at and below about 0.5 eV; whereby fast electrons in the gaseous mixture are slowed into the energy range of about 0.5 eV where the cross section for the mixture is small and hence the electron mean free path is large. The reduction in both the cross section and the electron energy results in an increase in the drift velocity of the electrons in the gas mixtures over that for the separate components for a range of E/P (pressure-reduced electron field) values. Several gas mixtures are provided that provide faster response in gas-filled detectors for convenient E/P ranges as compared with conventional gas mixtures.

Improved binary and tertiary gas mixtures for gas-filled particledetectors are provided. The components are chosen on the basis of the principle that the first component is one gas or mixture of two gases having a large electron scattering cross section at energies of about 0.5 eV and higher, and the second component is a gas (Ar) having a very small cross section at and below aout 0.5 eV, whereby fast electrons in the gaseous mixture are slowed into the energy range of about 0.5 eV where the cross section for the mixture is small and hence the electron mean free path is large. The reduction in both the cross section and the electron energy results in an increase in the drift velocity of the electrons in the gas mixtures over that for the separate components for a range of E/P (pressure-reduced electron field) values. Several gas mixtures are provided that provide faster response in gas-filled detectors for convenient E/P ranges as compared with conventional gas mixtures.

The multiplicity of charged particles produced in Au+Au collisions as a function of energy, centrality, rapidity and azimuthal angle has been measured with the PHOBOS detector at RHIC. These results contribute to our understanding of the initial state of heavy ion collisions and provide a means to compare basic features of particle production in nuclear collisions with more elementary systems.

Package, in page assembly, is subjected to low-frequency vibration, and noise generated by particle impacts is picked up by transducer. Test procedure calls for three transverse shocks to be applied to page to dislodge any trapped particles.

The hybrid technology cell-fluorescent ion track hybrid detector (Cell-Fit-HD) enables the investigation of radiation-related cellular events along single ion tracks on the subcellular scale in clinical ion beams. The Cell-Fit-HD comprises a fluorescent nuclear track detector (FNTD, the physical compartment), a device for individual particle detection and a substrate for viable cell-coating, i.e. the biological compartment. To date both compartments have been imaged sequentially in situ by confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). This is yet in conflict with a functional read-out of the Cell-Fit-HD utilizing a fast live-cell imaging of the biological compartment with low phototoxicity on greater time scales. The read-out of the biological from the physical compartment was uncoupled. A read-out procedure was developed to image the cell layer by conventional widefield microscopy whereas the FNTD was imaged by CLSM. Point mapping registration of the confocal and widefield imaging data was performed. Non-fluorescent crystal defects (spinels) visible in both read-outs were used as control point pairs. The accuracy achieved was on the sub-µm scale. The read-out procedure by widefield microscopy does not impair the unique ability of spatial correlation by the Cell-Fit-HD. The uncoupling will enlarge the application potential of the hybrid technology significantly. The registration allows for an ultimate correlation of microscopic physical beam parameters and cell kinetics on greater time scales. The method reported herein will be instrumental for the introduction of a novel generation of compact detectors facilitating biodosimetric research towards high-throughput analysis.

The hybrid technology cell-fluorescent ion track hybrid detector (Cell-Fit-HD) enables the investigation of radiation-related cellular events along single ion tracks on the subcellular scale in clinical ion beams. The Cell-Fit-HD comprises a fluorescent nuclear track detector (FNTD, the physical compartment), a device for individual particle detection and a substrate for viable cell-coating, i.e. the biological compartment. To date both compartments have been imaged sequentially in situ by confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). This is yet in conflict with a functional read-out of the Cell-Fit-HD utilizing a fast live-cell imaging of the biological compartment with low phototoxicity on greater time scales. The read-out of the biological from the physical compartment was uncoupled. A read-out procedure was developed to image the cell layer by conventional widefield microscopy whereas the FNTD was imaged by CLSM. Point mapping registration of the confocal and widefield imaging data was performed. Non-fluorescent crystal defects (spinels) visible in both read-outs were used as control point pairs. The accuracy achieved was on the sub-µm scale. The read-out procedure by widefield microscopy does not impair the unique ability of spatial correlation by the Cell-Fit-HD. The uncoupling will enlarge the application potential of the hybrid technology significantly. The registration allows for an ultimate correlation of microscopic physical beam parameters and cell kinetics on greater time scales. The method reported herein will be instrumental for the introduction of a novel generation of compact detectors facilitating biodosimetric research towards high-throughput analysis. PMID:27499388

Model investigations and laboratory tests of detectors for charged particles pulse beams and plasma parameters measuring are presented. Detector represents combination of classic Faraday cup with electrical way of signal getting and radiation-acoustic meter of pulse beams parameters. Radiation-acoustic meter consists of two parts--thin detector, transparent for beams of high energyparticles, and thick detector with full absorption. Ultrasonic oscillations, which arise during interaction of charged particles pulse beams or plasma with detector material, are transformed by piezoelectric detector into electric signals, whose amplitude-frequency and time characteristics functionally depended on beams parameters. All the signals come into microcontroller device Intel MSC51. This device produces calculations of following beam parameters: average energy, pulse charge, pulse currents, density, beam size and pulse time. Calculated characteristics of meter well coincide with experimental measurements, carried out at accelerators in particlesenergy range from 1 to 100 Mev.

This final report covers the three years of this grant, for the funding period 9/1/2010 - 8/31/2013. The project consisted of generic detector R&D work at UC Davis, with an emphasis on developing interconnect technologies for applications in HEP. Much of the work is done at our Facility for Interconnect Technologies (FIT) at UC Davis. FIT was established using ARRA funds, with further studies supported by this grant. Besides generic R&D work at UC Davis, FIT is engaged in providing bump bonding help to several DOE supported detector R&D efforts. Some of the developmental work was also supported by funding from other sources: continuing CMS project funds and the Linear Collider R&D funds. The latter program is now terminated. The three year program saw a good deal of progress on several fronts, which are reported here.

Superconducting transition edge sensors (TESs) have made dramatic progress since their invention some 65 years ago (Andrews et al 1949 Phys. Rev. 76 154-155 Irwin and Hilton 2005 Topics Appl. Phys. 99 63-149) until now there are major imaging arrays of TESs with as many as 7588 separate sensors. These are extensively used by astronomers for some ground-breaking observations (Hattori et al 2013 Nucl. Instrum. Methods Phys. Res. A 732 299-302). The great success of TES systems has tended to overshadow other superconducting sensor developments. However there are other types (Sobolewski et al 2003 IEEE Trans. Appl. Supercond. 13 1151-7 Hadfield 2009 Nat. Photonics 3 696-705) which are discussed in papers within this special edition of the journal. Here we describe a quite different type of detector, also applicable to single photon detection but possessing possible advantages (higher sensitivity, higher operating temperature) over the conventional TES, at least for single detectors.

In this paper we report a search for intermediate mass magnetic monopoles and nuclearites using CR39 and Makrofol Nuclear Track Detectors (NTDs) of the SLIM large area experiment, 440 m 2 exposed at the high altitude laboratory of Chacaltaya (Bolivia) and about 100 m 2 at Koksil, Himalaya (Pakistan). We discuss the new chemical etching and improved analysis of the SLIM CR39 sheets. Preliminary limits are based on 316 m 2 of CR39 NTDs exposed for 3.9 y.

A study of electrical properties and detection performance of two types of Indium Phosphide detector structures was performed: (i) with p-n-junction and (ii) with Schottky contact prepared on high purity p-type InP. The p-n junction detectors were based on a high purity InP:Pr layers of both n- and p- type conductivity with carrier concentration on the order of 1014 cm-3 grown on Sn doped n-type substrate. Schottky barrier detectors were prepared by vacuum evaporation of Pd on high purity p-type epitaxial layer grown on Mn doped p-type substrate. The detection performance of particledetectors was measured by pulse-height spectra with alpha particles emitted from 241Am source at room temperature.

The Mars Observer Gamma-Ray Spectrometer (MO GRS) was designed to measure gamma-rays emitted by the Martian surface. This gamma-ray emission is induced by energetic cosmic-ray particles penetrating the Martian surface and producing many secondary particles and gamma rays. The MO GRS consisted of an high-purity germanium (HPGe) detector with a passive cooler. Since radiation damage due to permanent bombardment of energetic cosmic ray particles (with energies up to several GeV) was expected for the MO GRS HPGe crystal, studies on radiation damage effects of HPGe crystals were carried on earth. One of the HPGe crystals (paradoxically called FLIGHT) was similar to the MO GRS crystal. Both detectors, MO GRS and FLIGHT, contained closed-end coaxial n-type HPGe crystals and had the same geometrical dimensions (5.6 x 5.6 cm). Many other parameters, such as HV and operation temperature, differed in space and on earth, which made it somewhat difficult to directly compare the performance of both detector systems. But among other detectors, detector FLIGHT provided many useful data to better understand radiation damage effects.

A series of experiments was conducted to determine the feasibility of using hydrogenated amorphous silicon (..cap alpha..-Si:H) as solid state thin film charged particledetectors. /sup 241/Am alphas were successfully detected with ..cap alpha..-Si:H devices. The measurements and results of these experiments are presented. The problems encountered and changes in the fabrication of the detectors that may improve the performance are discussed.

Interest in the influence of the neutron-to-proton (N/Z) ratio on multifragmenting nuclei has demanded an improvement in the capabilities of multi-detector arrays as well as the companion analysis methods. The particle identification method used in the NIMROD-ISiS 4{pi} array is described. Performance of the detectors and the analysis method are presented for the reaction of {sup 86}Kr+{sup 64}Ni at 35 MeV/u.

Silicon particledetectors made on Czochralski and float zone silicon materials were irradiated with 7 and 9 MeV protons at a temperature of 220 K. During the irradiations, the detectors were biased up to their operating voltage. Specific values for the fluence and flux of the irradiation were found to cause a sudden breakdown in the detectors. We studied the limits of the fluence and the flux in the breakdown as well as the behavior of the detector response function under high flux irradiations. The breakdown was shown to be an edge effect. Additionally, the buildup of an oxide charge is suggested to lead to an increased localized electric field, which in turn triggers a charge carrier multiplication. Furthermore, we studied the influences of the type of silicon material and the configuration of the detector guard rings.

We describe the results of a test ran involving a Transition Radiation Detector that can both distinguish electrons from pions which momenta greater titan 0.7 GeV/c and simultaneously track particles passing through the detector. The particle identification is accomplished through a combination of the detection of Transition Radiation from the electron and the differences in electron and pion energy loss (dE/dx) in the detector. The dE/dx particle separation is most, efficient below 2 GeV/c while particle ID utilizing Transition Radiation effective above 1.5 GeV/c. Combined, the electron-pion separation is-better than 5 {times} 10{sup 2}. The single-wire, track-position resolution for the TRD is {approximately}230 {mu}m.

The energy loss-spectrum of secondary charged particles produced by the interaction of gamma-rays and energetic neutrons in silicon solid state detectors has been measured with a satellite-borne cosmic ray telescope. In the satellite measurements presented here two distinct neutral background effects are identified: secondary protons and alpha particles with energies of about 2 to 100 MeV produced by neutron interactions, and secondary electrons with energies of about 0.2 to 10 MeV produced by X-ray interactions. The implications of this neutral background for satellite measurements of low energy cosmic rays are discussed, and suggestions are given for applying these results to other detector systems in order to estimate background contamination and optimize detector system design.

A high time resolution electron detector has been developed for use in sounding rocket studies of the aurora. The detector is used to look for particle bunching in the range 50 kHz-10 MHz. The design uses an electron multiplier and an onboard frequency spectrum analyzer. By using the onboard analyzer, the data can be transmitted back to ground on a single 93-kHz voltage-controlled oscillator. The detector covers the 50 kHz-10 MHz range six times per second and detects modulation on the order of a new percent of the total electron flux. Spectra are presented for a flight over an auroral arc.

A scintillator-fiber charged-particle track-imaging detector has been developed using a bundle of square cross-section plastic scintillator fiber optics, proximity focused onto an image intensified Charge Injection Device (CID) camera. Detector to beams of 15 MeV protons and relativistic Neon, Manganese, and Gold nuclei have been exposed and images of their tracks are obtained. This paper presents details of the detector technique, properties of the tracks obtained, and range measurements of 15 MeV protons stopping in the fiber bundle.

A smoke and particle ionization detector using tritiated amorphous silicon film as the radiation source is demonstrated. The ion chamber design includes both bipolar and unipolar region; the unipolar region is defined as the volume space extending beyond the range of ionizing particles. Attachment of ions to particulate matter in the unipolar region considerably reduces the mobility of the carriers, thus forming a space charge cloud accompanied by a reduction in the electrical field strength, thereby enhancing the particulate detection responsivity. Tritium {beta}s have a maximum range of about 6 mm in air, which makes the detector compact. Owing to the potential of increased specific activity, it results in a gamma-free detector with improved sensitivity. The results show that this gamma-free detector is several-fold to forty-fold more responsive than traditional ionization detectors using Am-241. In addition, this ion chamber can function as a dual detector having both photoelectric and ionization detector responsivities. (authors)

We clarify basic concepts concerning the response of silicon detectors to ionizing radiation, focusing on light ions with energies ranging from a few hundred keV to a few MeV. Through reanalysis of existing experimental data, we quantify the difference in the response of silicon detectors to α particles and 16O ions, and we determine the correction that must be made before an energy calibration obtained with α particles can be applied to the measurement of 16O ions. Finally, we show that an apparent disagreement among three recent measurements of the decay spectrum of 8B can be explained by a failure to correctly take into account the different response of silicon detectors to α particles and 16O ions.

The Univ. of Maryland portion investigated the following areas. The Space Physics Group performed studies of data from the AMPTE/CCE spacecraft CHEM experiment and found that the ratio of solar wind to photospheric abundances decreased rather smoothly with the first ionization potential (FIP) of the ion with the low FIP ion being about a factor of two overabundant. Carbon and hydrogen fit this trend particularly well. Several occurrences were analyzed of field aligned beams observed when CCE was upstream of the Earth's bow shock. Also using CHEM data, ring current intensity and composition changes during the main and recovery phases of the great geomagnetic storm that occurred in February 1986 was examined in detail. Still using CHEM data, ring current characteristics were examined in a survey of 20 magnetic storms ranging in size from -50 nT to -312 nT. A study was done of energetic ion anisotropy characteristics in the Earth's magnetosheath region using data from the UMD/MPE experiment on ISEE-1. The properties were analyzed of approx. 30 to 130 keV/e protons and alpha particles upstream of six quasi-parallel interplanetary shocks that passed by the ISEE-3 spacecraft during 1978 to 1979. Work from NASA-Goddard include studies from the High Energy Cosmic Ray Group, Low Energy Cosmic Ray Group, Low Energy Gamma Ray Group, High Energy Astrophysics Theory Group, and the X ray Astronomy Group.

Muography deduces the density length in the interior of the investigated geological object, such as a mountain or volcano by the measurement of the cosmic muon absorption along different paths through the object. If path lengths (average densities) are measured, the average density (path length) can be deduced along the muon paths. A portable, low power consumption cosmic particle tracking detector based on Close Cathode multi-wire proportional chambers [1,2] has been developed for muography based on our earlier developments and experiences at the Wigner RCP of the HAS in Budapest [3,4,5]. The newly developed tracking system consists of six layers with the sensitive area of 0.25 m2 [6]. The spatial resolution of 2 mm provides an angular resolution of 15 mrad. This instrument has been optimized for underground and outdoor measurements: it has a Raspberry pi controlled data acquisition system which includes a custom designed board with a coincidence unit and allows high level remote control, data management and analysis. The individual trigger signals, number of missed triggers, analogue signals from chambers and the temperature are recorded. The duration of data readout (dead time) is 100 microsec. The DAQ software runs on the Raspberry Pi. For standard operation, a graphical user interface has been developed, running on any remote computer with Internet connection (both of wired and wireless) to the Raspberry Pi. A temperature-controlled high-voltage power supply provides a stable and reasonable (> 95 %) tracking performance for the measurements. With total power consumption of 5W, a portable tracking detector can operate for 5 days with a standard 50 Ah battery and with gas (non flammable Ar-CO2 mixture) consumption of 0.5 liter per hour, a 10 l bottle at pressure of 150 bar is enough for four month. The portability (total weight of less than 30 kg) allowed that our tracking detectors have been applied in underground caverns for subsurface density mapping. The

A scintillator-fiber charged-particle track-imaging detector was developed using a bundle of square cross section plastic scintillator fiber optics, proximity focused onto an image intensified charge injection device (CID) camera. The tracks of charged particle penetrating into the scintillator fiber bundle are projected onto the CID camera and the imaging information is read out in video format. The detector was exposed to beams of 15 MeV protons and relativistic Neon, Manganese, and Gold nuclei and images of their tracks were obtained. Details of the detector technique, properties of the tracks obtained, and preliminary range measurements of 15 MeV protons stopping in the fiber bundle are presented.

Two gas detectors comprise the tracking system for the GlueX experiment, the Central Drift Chamber (CDC) and the Forward Drift Chamber (FDC). The CDC is a cylindrical straw-tube detector covering polar angles between 6° and 168°, delivering spatial resolution of ~150 μm. The FDC is a Cathode Strip Chamber consisting of four packages, each with six alternating layers of anode wires and cathode strips. The FDC is designed to track forward-going charged particles with polar angles between 1° and 20° with a spatial resolution of ~200 μm. Both tracking detectors record timing information and energy loss measurements useful for particle identification. During Fall 2014 and Spring 2015, the first photon beam was delivered on target for commissioning of the GlueX detector in Hall-D at Jefferson Lab. These data are currently being used in a large effort to calibrate the individual detector subsystems to achieve design performance. Methods and results for calibrations of each of the tracking detectors are presented. Techniques for alignment of the tracking system using a combination of cosmic rays and beam data is discussed. Finally, some early results of physics measurements including charged final-state particles are presented. This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Nuclear Physics under Contract DE-AC05-06OR23177.

A spreadsheet simulation of a modern particledetector has been developed and can be readily used as an instructional tool in the physics classroom. The spreadsheet creates a three-dimensional model that can be rotated and helical trajectories can be highlighted. An associated student worksheet is also presented.

This article describes the work of Georges Charpak of France leading to his receipt of the 1992 Nobel Prize in Physics. The Nobel Prize was awarded to Charpak [open quotes]for his invention and development of particledetectors, in particular the multiwire proportional chamber.[close quotes] Historical aspects of Charpak's life and research are given.

The possibility that radio frequency beam generated electromagnetic interference (EMI) could disrupt the operation of particledetector electronics has been of some concern since the inception of short pulse electron colliders more than 30 years ago [1]. Some instances have been reported where this may have occurred but convincing evidence has not been available. This possibility is of concern for the International Linear Collider (ILC). We have conducted test beam studies demonstrating that electronics disruption does occur using the vertex detector electronics (VXD) from the SLD detector which took data at the SLC at SLAC. We present the results of those tests, and we describe the need for EMI standards for beam and detector instrumentation in the IR region at the ILC.

Kinetic Inductance Detectors (KID) represent a novel detector technology based on superconducting resonators. Since their first demonstration in 2003, they have been rapidly developed and are today a strong candidate for present and future experiments in the different bands of the electromagnetic spectrum. This has been possible thanks to the unique features of such devices: in particular, they couple a very high sensitivity to their intrinsic suitability for frequency domain multiplexed readout, making the fabrication of large arrays of ultrasensitive detectors possible. There are many fields of application that can profit of such detectors. Here, we will briefly review the principle of operation of a KID, and give two sample applications, to mm-wave astronomy and to particle physics.

Particledetectors (DOSTEL, CPDS, and TEPC) measure the energy deposition spectrum inside earth orbiting - manned spacecraft (shuttle, space station). These instruments attempt to emulate the deposition of energy in human tissue to evaluate the health risk. However, the measurements are often difficult to relate to tissue equivalent because nuclear fragmentation (internuclear cascade/evaporation), energy-loss straggling, heavy ions, spacecraft shielding and detector geometry/orientation, and coincidence thresholds significantly affect the measured spectrum. 'A le have developed a high fidelity Monte Carlo model addressing each of these effects that significantly improves interpretation of these instruments and the resulting assessment of radiation risk to humans.

Laser-driven accelerated (LDA) particle beams have due to the unique acceleration process very special properties. In particular they are created in ultra-short bunches of high intensity exceeding more than 107 \\frac{particles}{cm^{2} \\cdot ns} per bunch. Characterization of these beams is very limited with conventional particledetectors. Non-electronic detectors such as imaging plates or nuclear track detectors are, therefore, conventionally used at present. Moreover, all these detectors give only offline information about the particle pulse position and intensity as they require minutes to hours to be processed, calling for a new highly sensitive online device. Here, we present tests of different pixel detectors for real time detection of LDA ion pulses. Experiments have been performed at the Munich 14MV Tandem accelerator with 8-20 MeV protons in dc and pulsed beam, the latter producing comparable flux as a LDA ion pulse. For detection tests we chose the position-sensitive quantum-counting semiconductor pixel detector Timepix which also provides per-pixel energy- or time-sensitivity. Additionally other types of commercially available pixel detectors are being evaluated such as the RadEye™1, a large area (25 x 50 mm2) CMOS image sensor. All of these devices are able to resolve individual ions with high spatial- and energy-resolution down to the level of μm and tens of keV, respectively. Various beam delivering parameters of the accelerator were thus evaluated and verified. The different readout modes of the Timepix detector which is operated with an integrated USB-based readout interface allow online visualization of single and time-integrated events. Therefore Timepix offers the greatest potential in analyzing the beam parameters.

A pulse processing technique has been developed which improves the gamma-ray energy resolution of mercuric iodide detectors. The technique employs a fast (100 ns) and a slow (6.4 microsec) pulse height analysis to correct for signal variations due to variations in charge trapping. The capabilities of the technique for energy resolution enhancement are discussed as well as the utility of the technique for examining the trapping characteristics of individual detectors. An energy resolution of 2.6 percent FWHM at 662 keV was achieved with an acceptance efficiency of 100 percent from a mercuric iodide detector which gives 8.3 percent FWHM using standard techniques.

We analyze the performance of a novel detector array for detecting and localizing particle emitting sources. The array is spherically shaped and consists of multiple "eyelets," each having a conical shape with a lens on top and a particledetectors subarray inside. The array's configuration is inspired by and generalizes the biological compound eye: it has a global spherical shape and allows a large number of detectors in each eyelet. The array can be used to detect particles including photons (e.g. visible light, X or γ rays), electrons, protons, neutrons, or α particles. We analyze the performance of the array by computing statistical Cramer-Rao bounds on the errors in estimating the direction of arrival (DOA) of the incident particles. In numerical examples, we first show the influence of the array parameters on its performance bound on the mean-square angular error (MSAE). Then we optimize the array's configuration according to a min-max criterion, i.e. minimize the worst case lower bound of the MSAE. Finally we introduce two estimators of the source direction using the proposed array and analyze their performance, thereby showing that the performance bound is attainable in practice. Potential applications include artificial vision, astronomy, and security.

Many current and future dark matter and neutrino detectors are designed to measure scintillation light with a large array of photomultiplier tubes (PMTs). The energy resolution and particle identification capabilities of these detectors depend in part on the ability to accurately identify individual photoelectrons in PMT waveforms despite large variability in pulse amplitudes and pulse pileup. We describe a Bayesian technique that can identify the times of individual photoelectrons in a sampled PMT waveform without deconvolution, even when pileup is present. To demonstrate the technique, we apply it to the general problem of particle identification in single-phase liquid argon dark matter detectors. Using the output of the Bayesian photoelectron counting algorithm described in this paper, we construct several test statistics for rejection of backgrounds for dark matter searches in argon. Compared to simpler methods based on either observed charge or peak finding, the photoelectron counting technique improves both energy resolution and particle identification of low energy events in calibration data from the DEAP-1 detector and simulation of the larger MiniCLEAN dark matter detector.

The Energetic ParticleDetector (EPD) launched in 1989 on the Galileo satellite took data on the Jovian Particle environment for 6 years before its demise [1]. Over the course of the mission the detectors in the Composition Measurement System (CMS) have visibly decayed with higher mass particles, specifically Oxygen and Sulphur, reading far lower energies at later epochs. By considering the non-steady accumulation of damage in the detector, as well as the operation of the priority channel data recording system in place on the EPD, an evolving correction can be made. Adjusting the data to account for the damage to the detectors will improve our understanding of the Jovian radiation environment. In particular, we can use the revised fluxes to re-evaluate the effect of the particle environment on the surfaces of the icy moons.

This article reviews the progress made over the last 20 years in the development and applications of liquid xenon detectors in particle physics, astrophysics, and medical imaging experiments. A summary of the fundamental properties of liquid xenon as radiation detection medium, in light of the most current theoretical and experimental information is first provided. After an introduction of the different type of liquid xenon detectors, a review of past, current, and future experiments using liquid xenon to search for rare processes and to image radiation in space and in medicine is given. Each application is introduced with a survey of the underlying scientific motivation and experimental requirements before reviewing the basic characteristics and expected performance of each experiment. Within this decade it appears likely that large volume liquid xenon detectors operated in different modes will contribute to answering some of the most fundamental questions in particle physics, astrophysics, and cosmology, fulfilling the most demanding detection challenges. From detectors based solely on liquid xenon (LXe) scintillation, such as in the MEG experiment for the search of the rare ''{mu}{yields}e{gamma}'' decay, currently the largest liquid xenon detector in operation, and in the XMASS experiment for dark matter detection, to the class of time projection chambers which exploit both scintillation and ionization of LXe, such as in the XENON dark matter search experiment and in the Enriched Xenon Observatory for neutrinoless double beta decay, unrivaled performance and important contributions to physics in the next few years are anticipated.

The latest developments of large-area, position sensitive gas-filled ionization chambers are described. Multi-wire-proportional chambers as position-sensing and parallel-plate-avalanche counters as time-sensing detectors at low pressure (5 torr) have proven to be useful and reliable instruments in heavy ion physics. Gas (proportional) scintillation counters, used mainly for x-ray spectroscopy, have recently been applied as particledetectors. Finally, a brief description of a large plastic scintillator spectrometer, the Plastic Ball, is given and some of the first test and calibration data are shown.

Superradiant instabilities of spinning black holes (BHs) can be used to impose strong constraints on ultralight bosons, thus turning BHs into effective particledetectors. However, very little is known about the development of the instability and whether its nonlinear time evolution accords to the linear intuition. For the first time, we attack this problem by studying the impact of gravitational-wave (GW) emission and gas accretion on the evolution of the instability. Our quasi-adiabatic, fully-relativistic analysis shows that: (i) GW emission does not have a significant effect on the evolution of the BH, (ii) accretion plays an important role, and (iii) although the mass of the scalar cloud developed through superradiance can be a sizeable fraction of the BH mass, its energy-density is very low and backreaction is negligible. Thus, massive BHs are well described by the Kerr geometry even if they develop bosonic clouds through superradiance. Using Monte Carlo methods and very conservative assumptions, we provide strong support to the validity of the linearized analysis and to the bounds of previous studies.

Fast detection of alpha particles in the range from 1 to 5 MeV in Makrofol-E polycarbonate nuclear track detectors (PCTDs) using a new chemical etchant was investigated. 252Cf and 241Am-thin open sources were used for irradiating Makrofol-E detectors with fission fragments and alpha particles in air at normal pressure and temperature (NPT). A chain of experimental work has been carried out using new etchants to register alpha particle in short time in Makrofol-E polycarbonate detectors. The etching efficiency were exhibited a clear dependence on the amount of methanol in the etching solution and etching time. The optimized chemical condition obtained at this stage of development for 200 μm Makrofol-E detectors are (8 ml of 10 N NaOH + 2 ml CH3OH) etching solutions at 60 °C for 3 h. In this study; it is possible to observe energy detection windows for Makrofol-E detectors according to applied etching duration. Makrofol-E introduced the characteristic Bragg peak, which indicates the advantages of this detector as alpha spectrometer. Consequently, the suggested new etchant can be developed for heavy ions detection and monitoring radon levels and its daughters.

This report presents work done under a Phase 2 SBIR contract for demonstrating large area detector planes utilizing Quantex electron trapping materials as a film medium for storing high-energy nuclide impingement information. The detector planes utilize energy dissipated by passage of the high-energy nuclides to produce localized populations of electrons stored in traps. Readout of the localized trapped electron populations is effected by scanning the ET plane with near-infrared, which frees the trapped electrons and results in optical emission at visible wavelengths. The effort involved both optimizing fabrication technology for the detector planes and developing a readout system capable of high spatial resolution for displaying the recorded nuclide passage tracks.

The multi-wire proportional chamber, introduced in 1967 by Georges Charpak (recipient of the 1992 Nobel prize for physics) allows to achieve high-rate, fully electronics detection and localization of ionizing radiation. The myriad of devices inspired by this initial work generated a revolution in the conception of detectors for elementary particle physics experiments; examples are the time projection chamber, the drift chamber, the micro-strip gas chamber. After a brief introduction on the basic operating principles of the device, I will describe several examples of application of advanced gas detectors in medicine and biology and analyze the operating characteristics that make the new devices attractive when confronted with classic detectors.

This report covers the progress of the Michigan Technological University particle astrophysics group during the period April 15th, 2011 through April 30th, 2014. The principal investigator is Professor David Nitz. Professor Brian Fick is the Co-PI. The focus of the group is the study of the highest energy cosmic rays using the Pierre Auger Observatory. The major goals of the Pierre Auger Observatory are to discover and understand the source or sources of cosmic rays with energies exceeding 10**19 eV, to identify the particle type(s), and to investigate the interactions of those cosmic particles both in space and in the Earth's atmosphere. The Pierre Auger Observatory in Argentina was completed in June 2008 with 1660 surface detector stations and 24 fluorescence telescopes arranged in 4 stations. It has a collecting area of 3,000 square km, yielding an aperture of 7,000 km**2 sr.

An improved apparatus is presented for focusing charged particles in an accelerator. In essence, the invention includes means for establishing a magnetic field in discrete sectors along the path of moving charged particles, the magnetic field varying in each sector in accordance with the relation. B = B/ sub 0/ STAln (r-r/sub 0/)/r/sub 0/!, where B/sub 0/ is the value of the magnetic field at the equilibrium orbit of radius r/sub 0/ of the path of the particles, B equals the magnetic field at the radius r of the chamber and n equals the magnetic field gradient index, the polarity of n being abruptly reversed a plurality of times as the particles travel along their arcuate path. With this arrangement, the particles are alternately converged towards the axis of their equillbrium orbit and diverged therefrom in successive sectors with a resultant focusing effect.

Two areas that are related to planetary gamma-ray spectrometry are investigated. The first task was the investigation of gamma rays produced by high-energy charged particles and their secondaries in planetary surfaces by means of thick target bombardments. The second task was the investigation of the effects of high-energy neutrons on gamma-ray spectral features obtained with high-purity Ge-detectors. For both tasks, as a function of the funding level, the experimental work was predominantly tied to that of other researchers, whenever there was an opportunity to participate in bombardment experiments at large or small accelerators for charged particles.

A detector for detecting energetic hydrogen ions and atoms ranging in energy from about 1 eV up to 1 keV in an evacuated environment includes a Schottky diode with a palladium or palladium-alloy gate metal applied to a silicon-dioxide layer on an n-silicon substrate. An array of the energetic-hydrogen detectors having a range of energy sensitivities form a plasma energy analyzer having a rapid response time and a sensitivity for measuring fluxes of energetic hydrogen. The detector is sensitive to hydrogen and its isotopes but is insensitive to non-hydrogenic particles. The array of energetic-hydrogen detectors can be formed on a single silicon chip, with thin-film layers of gold metal applied in various thicknesses to successive detectors in the array. The gold layers serve as particleenergy-filters so that each detector is sensitive to a different range of hydrogen energies. 4 figs.

A detector for detecting energetic hydrogen ions and atoms ranging in energy from about 1 eV up to 1 keV in an evacuated environment includes a Schottky diode with a palladium or palladium-alloy gate metal applied to a silicondioxide layer on an n-silicon substrate. An array of the energetic-hydrogen detectors having a range of energy sensitivities form a plasma energy analyzer having a rapid response time and a sensitivity for measuring fluxes of energetic hydrogen. The detector is sensitive to hydrogen and its isotopes but is insensitive to non-hydrogenic particles. The array of energetic-hydrogen detectors can be formed on a single silicon chip, with thin-film layers of gold metal applied in various thicknesses to successive detectors in the array. The gold layers serve as particleenergy-filters so that each detector is sensitive to a different range of hydrogen energies.

The Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD), part of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), has been successfully measuring the energetic particle radiation on the Martian surface since the landing of the Curiosity rover in Gale crater. Furthermore, RAD was already operating for large parts of the ~250-day cruise to Mars, measuring the radiation environment inside the spacecraft. Detailed knowledge of particle-type-dependent energy spectra is important for several reasons. E.g., for one measured differential particle fluxes can be used to validate and evaluate transport models currently used to estimate the radiation exposure on the Martian surface. Another important point of knowing the energy spectra of individual ion species is their differing biological effectiveness in terms of assessing radiation exposure risks for future manned missions to Mars. Here, we will present differential fluxes for different ion species, both for the cruise and the surface phase. As the energy range of these spectra is limited by the maximum energy with that a particle can stop in one of RAD's detectors, we will show integral fluxes for energies above these upper limits where the total energy of the detected particle is not known.

Three-dimensional boron particle loaded thermal neutron detectors utilize neutron sensitive conversion materials in the form of nano-powders and micro-sized particles, as opposed to thin films, suspensions, paraffin, etc. More specifically, methods to infiltrate, intersperse and embed the neutron nano-powders to form two-dimensional and/or three-dimensional charge sensitive platforms are specified. The use of nano-powders enables conformal contact with the entire charge-collecting structure regardless of its shape or configuration.

The properties of single crystals of cadmium sulfide as radiation detectors are described. It has been found possible to select crystals such that: (a) The ratio of increase of conductivity under irradiation to the rate of absorption of energy in the crystal is substantially independent of particleenergy (over the examined ranges of 500 ev to 80 kev for electrons and 5 kev to 180 kev for protons) and of the magnitude of energy flux (over the range from.005 to 10 ergs/cm(sup 2 -sec); and (b) The above ration is substantially the same for protons, electrons, alpha particles, x-rays, and gamma-rays. For a driving voltage of 100 volts, typical crystal yield currents of 10(sup -7) to 10(sup- 6) amperes for each erg/cm(sup 2-sec) of energy absorbed by the crystal. The threshold of such crystal detectors (resulting from dark currents of the order of 10(sup 10 amp) is typically 10(sup -3) ergs/cm(sup 2- sec). For the selected crystals a response-temperature coefficient of -0.25% per degree centigrade is found for the temperature range -50 deg C to + 50 deg C. A description is given of a complete CdS total corpuscular energydetector for the study of geomagnetically trapped radiation by means of a satellite. The detector described has a dynamic range great than 10(sup 4), a solid angle of 10(exp -3) steradian, and a detection threshold of approximately 1 erg/cm(sup 2-sec-sterad). A similar detector employing a small magnet for the selective exclusion of electrons is also described. Noteworthy practical features of these detectors for satellite and space probe experiments are: (a) Use of bare crystals, without covering foils, in order to detect charged particles having energies as low as hundreds of electron volts. (b) Simplicity of electronic auxiliaries. (c) Compactness, lightweight and nechanical ruggedness. (d) Low electrical power requirements; and (e) Conversion of conduction current to the rate of a twostate relaxation oscillator in order to facilitate telemetric

We are developing athermal-phonon mediated particledetectors that utilize microwave kinetic inductance detectors (MKIDs) as phonon sensors. MKIDs afford natural frequency domain multiplexing, which allows for massive substrates to be patterned with hundreds of sensors while keeping readout complexity to a minimum. Previously, our 2 cm 2 cm 1 mm proof-of-principle device utilized 20 MKIDs and, from the magnitude and timing of their response, we were able to reconstruct the position of a particle interaction to 1 mm. From this, we corrected for variations in detector response across the device and measured an energy resolution of keV at 30 keV. We have designed and fabricated a new 3-inch prototype device that utilizes 256 MKID sensors, and we present results from its initial testing. Applications include rare event searches, such as the direct detection of dark matter and neutrinoless double beta decay, as well as hard X-ray/soft -ray astrophysics.

The properties of HgI 2 semiconductor devices as charged particledetectors have been investigated. Nearly linear energy response with fwhm resolution of 5-15% is observed for 1,2H and 3,4He ions, E < 40 MeV. Fast proton damage is observed for 10 10 protons/cm 2. However, based on measurements with two HgI 2 detectors, little fast neutron damage is apparent at fluences up to 10 15 neutrons/cm 2. This suggests considerably greater resistance to radiation damage than is observed for Si and other solid state devices.

Fission foil detectors (FFD's) are passive devices composed of heavy metal foils in contact with muscovite mica films. The heavy metal nuclei have significant cross sections for fission when irradiated with neutrons and protons. Each isotope is characterized by threshold energies for the fission reactions and particular energy-dependent cross sections. In the FFD's, fission fragments produced by the reactions are emitted from the foils and create latent particle tracks in the adjacent mica films. When the films are processed surface tracks are formed which can be optically counted. The track densities are indications of the fluences and spectra of neutrons and/or protons. In the past, detection efficiencies have been calculated using the low energy neutron calibrated dosimeters and published fission cross sections for neutrons and protons. The problem is that the addition of a large kinetic energy to the (n,nucleus) or (p,nucleus) reaction could increase the energies and ranges of emitted fission fragments and increase the detector sensitivity as compared with lower energy neutron calibrations. High energy calibrations are the only method of resolving the uncertainties in detector efficiencies. At high energies, either proton or neutron calibrations are sufficient since the cross section data show that the proton and neutron fission cross sections are approximately equal. High energy proton beams have been utilized (1.8 and 4.9 GeV, 80 and 140 MeV) for measuring the tracks of fission fragments emitted backward and forward.

We have answered the PAC question ( Demonstrate the jet energy resolution of your proposed detector by studying decays Z {yields} jet + jet and Z{prime} {yields} jet + jet, M{sub Z{prime}} = 1 TeV.'') using a general program called SSCSIM. This program is a tool for investigating simple questions involving the relations between detector parameters and physics capabilities of a detector. A different package called ANLSIM developed by our colleagues at Argonne has also been used to answer this question. The results as expected are very similar. In this note we will try to document our procedures. Our tentative conclusion from this study is that physics induced effects, out-of-cone fluctuations and underlying event fluctuations, dominate the resolution. Pushing the detector performance to the limits of technology improves the effective resolution by at most 20%. 20 refs., 6 figs., 5 tabs.

The accurate measurement of low energy (less than 100 eV) particle properties in the magnetosphere has been difficult, partly because of the low density of such particles, but more particularly because of spacecraft interference effects. Some early examples of how these phenomena have affected particle measurements on an OGO spacecraft are presented. Data obtained with the UCSD particledetectors on ATS-6 are then presented showing how some of these difficulties have been partially overcome. Future measurements of low energyparticles in the magnetosphere can be improved by: (1) improving the low energy resolution of detectors; (2) building electrostatically clean spacecraft; (3) controlling spacecraft potential; and (4) using auxiliary measurements, particularly wave data.

The design and characteristics of low energydetectors on the Copernicus satellite are described. The functions of the sensors in obtaining data on the particle background. The procedure for processing the data obtained by the satellite is examined. The most significant positive deviations are caused by known weak X-ray sources in the field of view. In addition to small systemic effects, occasional random effects where the count rate increases suddenly and decreases within a few frames are analyzed.

High energyparticle physics, which has been trying to understand and to devise new laws governing nature at per particleenergies far beyond everyday energies, has entered a new episode. Having surpassed the low energy regime, where (s channel) resonance production dominantly projects onto the final state, very interesting features of the strong interaction arose at c.m. energies in the tens of GEV range, as found at the CERN Intersecting Storage Rings (ISR). One recalls the onset of hard scattering processes, which was understood as a scattering between constituents of the nucleon, hence supporting the Quark Parton Model (QPM). Surprisingly enough the total cross section started to rise again, when it was initially believed to have reached a constant value, suggesting an asymptotia. Furthermore correlations among the final state particles produced were observed, and especially long range correlations, which must reflect dynamical laws.

A method and apparatus for monitoring alpha contamination are provided in which ions generated in the air surrounding the item, by the passage of alpha particles, are moved to a distant detector location. The parts of the item from which ions are withdrawn can be controlled by restricting the air flow over different portions of the apparatus. In this way, detection of internal and external surfaces separately, for instance, can be provided. The apparatus and method are particularly suited for use in undertaking alpha contamination measurements during the commissioning operations.

A neutron detector based on registration of radiation effects in Static Random Access Memories (SRAMs) has been developed at the University of Bergen for applications in particle therapy. Nine different SRAMs were tested and a 16 Mibit SRAM from Cypress was chosen for the final detector. The SRAMs were irradiated in beam lines at PTB Braunschweig, the Oslo Cyclotron Laboratory, The Svedberg Laboratory, The Institute for Energy Technology (IFE, Kjeller) and the CERN-EU high-energy reference field. The results from the measurements demonstrate the feasibility of using the selected SRAMs for neutron detection. The results indicate low or no sensitivity to thermal neutrons while the cross section for fast neutrons increases with neutron energy before reaching a more stable level at energies of several tenths of MeV.

It is my task to summarise the great variety of topics (covering a refreshing mix of physics, chemistry and technology) presented at this conference, which has focused on the effects of ionising radiation on scintillators and other particledetectors. One of the reasons and the central interest of many of the participants was the use of such detectors in experiments at two future large hadron colliders: the Superconducting Super Collider to be operating outside of Dallas in the United States by the turn of the decade and its European counterpart the Large Hadron Collider to be operating outside of Geneva in Switzerland on a similar time scale. These accelerators are the ``apple of the high energy physicist`s eye.`` Their goal is to uncover the elusive Higgs particle and thereby set the cornerstone in our current knowledge of elementary particle interactions. This is the Quest, and from this lofty height the presentations rapidly moved on to the specific questions of experimental science: how such an experiment is carried out; why radiation damage is an issue; how radiation damage affects detectors; which factors affect radiation damage characteristics; which factors are not affected by radiation damage; and how better detectors may be constructed. These were the substance of this conference.

As part of its national security mission, Lawrence Livermore develops technologies to help government agencies prevent terrorists from smuggling nuclear materials into the country. One ongoing effort is to design radiation detectors that can distinguish threat sources from legitimate sources, such as medical isotopes, and naturally occurring radiation. (See S&TR, September 2004, pp. 4-11; May 2006, pp. 4-10.) Detectors intended for use by nonspecialists must be easy to operate and require minimal maintenance. To be most effective, they also must detect both gamma and neutron energies. That may sound like a lot to ask of one instrument, but the Ultrahigh-Resolution Gamma and Neutron Spectrometer (UltraSpec) delivers all of these features. UltraSpec is so sensitive that even the minute thermal energy deposited by a single gamma ray or neutron can be detected with high precision. With this capability, the detector can identify differences in composition that help reveal a material's origin, processing history, and likely intended use. In addition to its application as a counterterrorism technology, UltraSpec can be used to protect nuclear material stored at nuclear power plants, to evaluate weapon stockpiles, and to verify material composition. UltraSpec was developed by a team of scientists and engineers from Livermore's Physics and Advanced Technologies and Engineering directorates working with VeriCold Technologies of Ismaning, Germany. The detector's design builds on a technology base established in three Laboratory Directed Research and Development projects. The UltraSpec team, which is led by Laboratory physicist Stephan Friedrich, received a 2006 R&D 100 Award for the detector's innovative design.

For the Low EnergyDetector of Simbol-X a new type of active pixel sensor based on the integrated amplifier DEPFET has been developed. This concept combines large area, scalable pixel size, low noise, and ultra-fast readout. Flight representative prototypes have been processed with a performance matching the Simbol-X specifications and demonstrating the technology readiness.

The Mars Observer spacecraft was launched on September 26, 1992 with a planned arrival at Mars after an 11-month cruise. Among the scientific instruments carried on the spacecraft was a Gamma-Ray Spectrometer (GRS) experiment to measure the composition of Mars. The GRS used a passively cooled high-purity germanium detector for measurements in the 0.2-10MeV region. The sensor was a closed-end co-axial detector, 5.5cm diameter by 5.5cm long, and had an efficiency along its axis of 28% at 1332keV relative to a standard NaI(Tl) detector. The sensor was surrounded by a thin (0.5cm) plastic charged-particle shield. This was the first planetary mission to use a cooled Ge detector. It was expected that the long duration in space of three years would cause an increase in the energy resolution of the detector due to radiation damage and could affect the expected science return of the GRS. Shortly before arrival, on August 21, 1993, contact was lost with the spacecraft following the pressurization of the propellent tank for the orbital-insertion rocket motor. During much of the cruise to Mars, the GRS was actively collecting background data. The instrument provided over 1200h of data collection during periods of both quiescent sun and solar flares. From the charged particle interactions in the shield, the total number of cosmic ray hits on the detector could be determined. The average cosmic ray flux at the MO GRS was about 2.5cm-2s-1. The estimated fluence of charged particles during cruise was about 108 particles cm-2 with 31% of these occurring during a single solar proton event of approximately 10 days duration. During cruise, the detectorenergy resolution determined from a background gamma-ray at 1312keV degraded from 2.4keV full-width at half-maximum shortly after launch to 6.4keV 11 months later. This result agrees well with measurements from ground-based accelerator irradiations (at 1.5GeV) on a similar size detector.

The problem of pulsed current signals in capacitor type sensors, due to drifting surface charge domain is considered for the analysis of the operational characteristics in photo- and particle-detectors. In this article, the models of the formation of the pulsed currents have been analyzed in vacuum and dielectric filled capacitor-like detectors. Injected charge drift regimes such as Shockley-Ramo's-type (large charge drift) and free flight within Coulomb's force field (small charge drift) are discussed. It has been shown that solutions of the injected charge drift in the vacuum gap capacitor can be employed to emulate charge drift over free path in dynamic solution of the problem with scattering. Pulsed current signals and charge drift in the detectors of the capacitor filled with dielectric type have been analyzed, where the bipolar charge injection and various drift regimes appear. The bipolar carrier drift transformation to a monopolar one is considered, after either electrons or holes, injected within the material, reach the external electrode. The impact of the dynamic capacitance and load resistance in the formation of drift current transients is highlighted. It has been illustrated that the synchronous action of carrier drift, trapping, generation and diffusion can lead to a vast variety of possible current pulse waveforms.

We report the 90Sr beta response of a polycrystalline diamond pixel detector fabricated using metal-less graphitic ohmic contacts. Laser induced graphitization was used to realize multiple squared conductive contacts with 1mm × 1mm area, 0.2 mm apart, on one detector side while on the other side, for biasing, a 9mm × 9mm large graphite contact was realized. A proximity board was used to wire bonding nine pixels at a time and evaluate the charge collection homogeneity among the 36 detector pixels. Different configurations of biasing were experimented to test the charge collection and noise performance: connecting the pixel at the ground potential of the charge amplifier led to best results and minimum noise pedestal. The expected exponential trend typical of beta particles has been observed. Reversing the bias polarity the pulse height distribution (PHD) does not changes and signal saturation of any pixel was observed around ±200V (0.4 V/μm). Reasonable pixels response uniformity has been evidenced even if smaller pitch 50÷100 μm structures need to be tested.

The methods used to calibrate the Fly's eye detector to evaluate the energy of EAS are discussed. The energy of extensive air showers (EAS) as seen by the Fly's Eye detector are obtained from track length integrals of observed shower development curves. The energy of the parent cosmic ray primary is estimated by applying corrections to account for undetected energy in the muon, neutrino and hadronic channels. Absolute values for E depend upon the measurement of shower sizes N sub e(x). The following items are necessary to convert apparent optical brightness into intrinsical optical brightness: (1) an assessment of those factors responsible for light production by the relativistic electrons in an EAS and the transmission of light thru the atmosphere, (2) calibration of the optical detection system, and (3) a knowledge of the trajectory of the shower.

Semiconductor radiation detectors are widely applied in high energy physics experiments. The largest particle colliders use silicon detectors with the total area of hundreds square meters that enhances the requirement to their stable long-term operation. This is provided by incorporating the floating p+ rings surrounding the sensitive area of the p+-n-n+ detectors (VTS - Voltage Termination Structure), that prevents an electric breakdown. The physical model of VTS operation in high-resistivity p+-n-n+ silicon radiation detectors developed in the study uses an approach of the current injection through the ring spacings of VTS that may occur under a certain electric field distribution. This leads to a strict stabilization of the ring potentials. Investigation of the potential distribution in VTS of silicon detectors irradiated with 1 MeV neutrons up to a fluence of 5×1015 neq/cm2 was carried out. It was shown that the change of the electric field profile in the detector bulk with increasing radiation fluence is a key factor for the potential distribution. At fluences less than 5×1014 neq/cm2 the potential distribution in VTS is governed by the punchthrough mechanism, whereas at higher fluences it is controlled by the bulk generation current and interaction with radiation induced deep levels.

A compact, highly efficient single-particle counting detector for ions of keV/u kinetic energy, movable by a long-stroke mechanical translation stage, has been developed at the Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik (Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics, MPIK). Both, detector and translation mechanics, can operate at ambient temperatures down to ∼10 K and consist fully of ultra-high vacuum compatible, high-temperature bakeable, and non-magnetic materials. The set-up is designed to meet the technical demands of MPIK’s Cryogenic Storage Ring. We present a series of functional tests that demonstrate full suitability for this application and characterise the set-up with regard to its particle detection efficiency.

This lecture will serve as an introduction to particledetectors and detection techniques. In the first lecture, a historic overview of particledetector development will be given. In the second lecture, some basic techniques and concepts for particle detection will be discussed. In the third lecture, the interaction of particles with matter, the basis of particle detection, will be presented. The fourth and fifth lectures will discuss different detector types used for particle tracking, energy measurement and particle identification.

This lecture will serve as an introduction to particledetectors and detection techniques. In the first lecture, a historic overview of particledetector development will be given. In the second lecture, some basic techniques and concepts for particle detection will be discussed. In the third lecture, the interaction of particles with matter, the basis of particle detection, will be presented. The fourth and fifth lectures will discuss different detector types used for particle tracking, energy measurement and particle identification.

This paper presents the sums of the cross section {sup 12}C(n, {alpha}{sub 0}) {sup 9}Be and {sup 12}C(n, N{prime}3{alpha}) determined in the neutron energy range between 7.4 and 11 MeV. An NE-213 scintillation detector is simultaneously used as a carbon target, an alpha-particledetector, and a neutron fluence monitor. By comparing the measured and calculated response spectra, the neutron-induced alpha-particle events in the scintillation volume are separated and the cross sections {sigma}{sub n,{alpha}0} + {sigma}{sub n,n{prime}3{alpha}} are determined relative to the n-p scattering cross section. The pulse-height distribution due to alpha particles allows the angular distribution to be extracted on the basis of the reaction kinematics and an accurately determined light output function for alpha particles in the NE-213 detector.

The Sweeper Magnet Focal Plane Detector project is a collaboration of the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (NHMFL) at Florida State University and the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (NSCL) at Michigan State University. The NHMFL will construct the Sweeper Magnet, a large C-type magnet necessary for the bending of rigid nuclear beams. The NSCL will build the Focal Plane Detectors consisting of two Cathode Readout Drift Detectors (CRDCs) for taking precise position measurements and an Ion Chamber with plastic scintillators for taking ΔE and E_tot measurements. During beam experiments, the Sweeper Magnet will bend the charged fragments for detection in the Focal Plane Detector. As fragments pass through, each CRDC will measure a position where fragments impinge. This will allow experimenters to calculate a fragment's trajectory and determine where it will strike the large stopping scintillator for the E_tot measurements. In order to obtain accurate energies of the fragments, the position sensitivity of the large scintillator must be mapped. By finding a functional relationship between the position of the impinging particles and the attenuation of the light emitted by the scintillator, one can use the known position information from the CRDCs to reconstruct the energy of fragments. The position sensitivity of the large plastic scintillator as measured with a collimated, pulsed blue diode will be presented.

The main purpose of the ALICE experiment at CERN is to identify and study the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) in heavy ion collisions at the LHC. Among others, hadrochemistry allows for a detailed insight into the characteristics of the high temperature and density system created in these events. It is therefore important to be able to identify charged particles on a track by track basis. Moreover, results from high energy nucleus-nucleus collisions obtained by other experiments (e.g. at RHIC) indicate that it is imperative to extend the detection capability of ALICE to higher momenta. To meet these challenges, we propose the construction of the Very High Momentum Particle Identification Detector (VHMPID), which aims to identify charged pions, kaons, protons and antiprotons in the momentum range of 10 GeV/c

detector proposal based on a RICH (Ring Imaging Cherenkov) detector with a C{sub 4}F{sub 10} radiator and a MWPC based CsI photon counter. In addition, we will present the advances in the development of an alternative multi-THGEM based CsI photon detector.

Charge collection properties of particledetectors made in HV-CMOS technology were investigated before and after irradiation with reactor neutrons. Two different sensor types were designed and processed in 180 and 350 nm technology by AMS. Edge-TCT and charge collection measurements with electrons from 90Sr source were employed. Diffusion of generated carriers from undepleted substrate contributes significantly to the charge collection before irradiation, while after irradiation the drift contribution prevails as shown by charge measurements at different shaping times. The depleted region at a given bias voltage was found to grow with irradiation in the fluence range of interest for strip detectors at the HL-LHC. This leads to large gains in the measured charge with respect to the one before irradiation. The increase of the depleted region was attributed to removal of effective acceptors. The evolution of depleted region with fluence was investigated and modeled. Initial studies show a small effect of short term annealing on charge collection.

We have developed a high-resolution detection technique for measuring the energy and activity of alpha decay events using low-temperature detectors. A small amount of source material containing alpha-emitting radionuclides was enclosed in a 4π metal absorber. The energy of the alpha particles as well as that of the recoiled nuclides, low-energy electrons, and low-energy x-rays and γ-rays was converted into thermal energy of the gold absorber. A metallic magnetic calorimeter serving as a fast and sensitive thermometer was thermally attached to the metal absorber. In the present report, experimental demonstrations of Q spectroscopy were made with a new meander-type magnetic calorimeter. The thermal connection between the temperature sensor and the absorber was established with annealed gold wires. Each alpha decay event in the absorber resulted in a temperature increase of the absorber and the temperature sensor. Using the spectrum measured for a drop of (226)Ra solution in a 4π gold absorber, all of the alpha emitters in the sample were identified with a demonstration of good detector linearity. The resolution of the (226)Ra spectrum showed a 3.3 keV FWHM at its Q value together with an expected gamma escape peak at the energy shifted by its γ-ray energy. PMID:22410296

The annealing kinetics of the so-called E4/E5 center or E4a/E4b center in electron-irradiated Si particledetectors has been studied at four different temperatures from 23 to 65 deg. C using deep-level transient spectroscopy (DLTS). The center gives rise to two energy levels at 0.37 and 0.45 eV below the conduction-band edge, and the annealing process is found to be of dissociative nature with an energy barrier of 1.1-1.2 eV. A striking similarity of the annealing rates (and kinetics) is revealed with that obtained for the 936-cm{sup -1} infrared absorption band, studied by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy using identical type of Si material as in the DLTS study but irradiated with neutrons. The result strongly suggest that the E4/E5 levels and the 936-cm{sup -1} band originate from the same defect, and the latter has been attributed to a di-interstitial-oxygen (I{sub 2}O) complex. The E4/E5 center plays a crucial role for the detrimental leakage current in irradiated Si particledetectors, and an assignment of E4/E5 to I{sub 2}O implies that oxygen-lean Si material (<10{sup 14} cm{sup -3}) should be advantageous to enhance detector performance.

Basic principles of the particle detection and signal processing for high-energy physics experiments are presented. It is shown that the optimum performance of a properly designed detector system is not limited by incidental imperfections, but solely by more fundamental limitations imposed by the quantum nature and statistical behavior of matter. The noise sources connected with the detection and signal processing are studied. The concepts of optimal filtering and optimal detector/amplifying device matching are introduced. Signal processing for a liquid argon calorimeter is analyzed in some detail. The position detection in gas counters is studied. Resolution in drift chambers for the drift coordinate measurement as well as the second coordinate measurement is discussed.

High energy photon backscatter uses pair production to probe deep beneath surfaces with single side accessibility or to image thick, radiographically opaque objects. At the higher photon energies needed to penetrate thick and/or highly attenuating objects, Compton backscatter becomes strongly forward peaked with relatively little backscatter flux. Furthermore, the downward energy shift of the backscattered photon makes it more susceptible to attenuation on its outbound path. Above 1.022 MeV, pair production is possible; at about 10 MeV, pari production crosses over Compton scatter as the dominant x-ray interaction mechanism. The backscattered photons can be hard x rays from the bremsstrahlung of the electrons and positrons or 0.511 MeV photons from the annihilation of the positron. Monte Carlo computer simulations of such a backscatter system were done to characterize the output signals and to optimize a high energydetector design. This paper touches on the physics of high energy backscatter imaging and describes at some length the detector design for tomographic and radiographic imaging.

A versatile, high resolution, software configurable, two-dimensional intensified vidicon quantum detector system has been developed for multiple research applications. A thin phosphor convertor allows the detection of X-rays below 20 keV and non-relativistic particles in addition to visible light, and a thicker scintillator can be used to detect X-rays up to 100 keV and relativistic particles. Faceplates may be changed to allow any active area from 1 to 40 mm square, and active areas up to 200 mm square are possible. The image is integrated in a digital memory on any software specified array size up to 4000 x 4000. The array size is selected to match the spatial resolution, which ranges from 10 to 100 microns depending on the operating mode, the active area, and the photon or particleenergy. All scan and data acquisition parameters are under software control to allow optimal data collection for each application.

This thesis focuses on the GLUEX Barrel Calorimeter (BCAL), a key subsystem of the GLUE experiment, which is currently under construction. GLUE will shed light on an as yet unexplored area of the interaction between the fundamental constituents of matter, that of confinement. To achieve its goals, GLUE requires a hermetic detector with good acceptance and good energy and position resolution. To that end, a lot of effort has been spent on R&D in order to optimize the performance of the BCAL. Specifically, the effect of the thickness of the lead sheets, used to build the BCAL, on the performance of the BCAL was simulated using Monte Carlo techniques. Using the GEANT simulation package, three different geometry configurations were simulated and the shape of the longitudinal shower profile, energy resolution and the fractional energy deposition and energy leakage were extracted and the results comprise the first half of this thesis. The second half of the thesis consists of an analysis of data collected in 2006 from a beam test performed at Jefferson Lab on a BCAL prototype module. The analysis was done in order to extract the energy resolution for several different angles of incidence, including the 90° which was used as reference.

This report discusses the following research in high energy physics: the properties of the z neutral boson with the SLD detector; the research and development program for the SDC muon detector; the fixed-target k-decay experiments; the Rocky Mountain Consortium for HEP; high energy photoproduction of states containing heavy quarks; and electron-positron physics with the CLEO II and Mark II detectors. (LSP).

Several models of new physics yield particles that are massive, long-lived, and have an electric charge, Q, greater than that of the electron, e. A search for evidence of such particles was performed using 5.0 fb-1 and 18.8 fb-1 of proton-proton collision data collected at √s = 7 TeV and √s = 8 TeV, respectively, with the Compact Muon Solenoid detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The distinctive detector signatures of these particles are that they are slow-moving and highly ionizing. Ionization energy loss and time-of- flight measurements were made using the inner tracker and the muon system, respectively. The search is sensitive to 1e ≤ |Q| ≤ 8e. Data were found to be consistent with standard model expectations and upper limits on the production cross section of these particles were computed using a Drell-Yan-like production model. Masses below 517, 687, 752, 791, 798, 778, 753, and 724 GeV are excluded for |Q| = 1e, 2e, 3e, 4e, 5e, 6e, 7e, and 8e, respectively.

Imaging spectroscopy has seen rapid progress over the past 25 years, leading to breakthroughs in many fields of astronomy that would not have been otherwise possible. This review overviews the visible/infrared imaging spectroscopy techniques as well as energy-resolving detectors. We introduce the working principle of scanning Fabry-Perot and Fourier transform spectrometers and explain the most common integral field concepts based on mirror slicers, lenslet arrays, and fibers. The main advantage of integral field spectrographs is the simultaneous measurement of spatial and spectral information. Although Fabry-Perot and Fourier transform spectrometers can provide a larger field of view, it is ultimately the higher sensitivity of integral field units that make them the technique of choice. This is arguably the case for image slicers, which make the most efficient use of the available detector pixels and have equal or higher transmission than lenslet arrays and fiber integral field units, respectively. We also address the more specific issues of large étendue operation, focal ratio degradation, anamorphic magnification, and diffraction-limited operation. This review also covers the emerging technology of energy-resolving detectors, which promise very simple and efficient instrument designs. These energy-resolving detectors are based on superconducting thin film technology and exploit either the very small superconducting energy to count the number of quasi-particles excited in the absorption of the photon or the extremely steep phase transition between the normal- and superconducting phase to measure a temperature increase. We have put special emphasis on an overview of the underlying physical phenomena as well as on the recent technological progress and astronomical path finder experiments.

A determination of the radial gradient for alpha particles (31-46 MeV/nuc) and protons with energies above 7.5 MeV and 44-77 MeV in the region 1.0-0.81 AU is presented for the solar-quiet year 1966. The determinations are based on data from the Pioneer 6 space probe. Two different detectors are used: the Deep River neutron monitor and measurements of low energy protons made on the IMP-C satellite. The average energy response of the Deep River monitor is 16 GeV, whereas the IMP-C data is for protons with energies above 50 MeV. The resulting radial gradient is found to be nearly zero for the alpha particles and slightly negative for the protons. The same qualitative results were found using the IMP-C data and the Deep River neutron monitor to measure the temporal variation in the cosmic ray intensity. The present analysis indicates that detectors over a wide range of energies are suitable for measuring the radial gradient, providing sufficient statistical precision is obtained to evaluate short-term modulation and the azimuthal separation of the detectors is not great.

Two modular Cherenkov detectors based on MCP-PMTs XP85012 are developed for study Au+Au collisions in future experiments with beams of Nuclotron and collider NICA at JINR, Dubna. The detector arrays register high-energy photons and relativistic charged particles with aim of fast triggering the collisions and generation of start signal with time resolution better then 50 ps for TOF detector. The MC simulation showed the trigger efficiency of 100% for impact parameter range b<10 fm. The best time resolution for single detector channel σt≈21 ps was obtained with DRS4 digitizer in TOF measurements with a deuteron beam.

An experiment to measure the charge composition and energy spectra of ultra low energy charged particles in interplanetary space has been developed and launched on the IMP 8 (Explorer 50) satellite on Oct. 26, 1973. The instrument consists of two separate sensors sharing common electronics. One of these sensors uses a thin window gas proportional counter to measure the rate of energy loss and a totally depleted silicon surface barrier detector to measure total energy of incoming particles. The energy range for two dimensional analysis extends from 300 KeV to 2.5 MeV for protons and 60 KeV/nucleon to 25 MeV/nucleon for iron with excellent resolution of individual chemical elements. The other sensor combines electrostatic deflection with total energy measurements in silicon surface barrier detectors to give the ionic charge and kinetic energy of the particle.

The semiconductor pixel detector Timepix contains an array of 256 × 256 square pixels with a pitch of 55 μm. The single quantum counting detector Timepix can also provide information about the energy or arrival time of a particle from every single pixel. This device is a powerful tool for radiation imaging and ionizing particle tracking. The Timepix device can be read-out via a serial or parallel interface enabling speeds of 100 fps or 3200 fps, respectively. The device can be connected to a PC via the USB 2.0 based interface FITPix, which currently supports the serial output of Timepix reaching a speed of 90 fps. FITPix supports adjustable clock frequency and hardware triggering which is a useful tool for the synchronized operation of multiple devices. The FITPix interface can handle up to 16 detectors in daisy chain. The complete system including the FITPix interface and Timepix detector is controlled from the PC by the Pixelman software package. A pipeline structure is now implemented in the new version of the readout interface of FITPix. This version also supports parallel Timepix readout. The pipeline architecture brings the possibility of data preprocessing directly in the hardware. The first pipeline stage converts the raw Timepix data into the form of a matrix or stream of pixel values. Another stage performs further data processing such as event thresholding and data compression. Complex data processing currently performed by Pixelman in the PC is significantly reduced in this way. The described architecture together with the parallel readout increases data throughput reaching a higher frame-rate and reducing the dead time. Significant data compression is performed directly in the hardware especially for sparse data sets from particle tracking applications. The data frame size is typically compressed by factor of 10-100.

Inhalation of radon gas (222Rn) and associated ionizing decay products is known to cause lung cancer in human. In the U.K., it has been suggested that 3 to 5 % of total lung cancer deaths can be linked to elevated radon concentrations in the home and/or workplace. Radon monitoring in buildings is therefore routinely undertaken in areas of known risk. Indeed, some organisations such as the Radon Council in the UK and the Environmental Protection Agency in the USA, advocate a ‘to test is best' policy. Radon gas occurs naturally, emanating from the decay of 238U in rock and soils. Its concentration can be measured using CR?39 plastic detectors which conventionally are assessed by 2D image analysis of the surface; however there can be some variation in outcomes / readings even in closely spaced detectors. A number of radon measurement methods are currently in use (for examples, activated carbon and electrets) but the most widely used are CR?39 solid state nuclear track?etch detectors (SSNTDs). In this technique, heavily ionizing alpha particles leave tracks in the form of radiation damage (via interaction between alpha particles and the atoms making up the CR?39 polymer). 3D imaging of the tracks has the potential to provide information relating to angle and energy of alpha particles but this could be time consuming. Here we describe a new method for rapid high resolution 3D imaging of SSNTDs. A ‘LEXT' OLS3100 confocal laser scanning microscope was used in confocal mode to successfully obtain 3D image data on four CR?39 plastic detectors. 3D visualisation and image analysis enabled characterisation of track features. This method may provide a means of rapid and detailed 3D analysis of SSNTDs. Keywords: Radon; SSNTDs; confocal laser scanning microscope; 3D imaging; LEXT

The scientific object of Dark Matter Particles Explorer(DAMPE) is the measurement of electrons and photons in the range of 5GeV~10TeV and the flux of nuclei up to 500TeV with excellent resolution , and the realization of measurements will identify possible Dark Matter(DM) signature and help deepen our understanding of the origin and propagation of high energy cosmic ray respectively. Plastic Scintillator Detector Array (PSD), which adopts perpendicular structure with two layers and each layer consists of 15 scintillator strips, is one sub-detector of DAMPE for detecting heavy ions and distinguishing photons and electrons. In this paper, the design and some test results of PSD are to be described.

Chemical vapor deposition has opened the possibility to grow high purity synthetic diamond at relatively low cost. This has opened up uses of diamond based detectors for wide range of applications. These detectors are most suitable for harsh environments where standard semiconductor detectors cannot work. In this paper, we present the fabrication details and performance study of polycrystalline diamond based radiation detector. Effect of different operating parameters such as bias voltage and shaping time for charge collection on the performance of detector has been studied.

We fabricated ultrathin metal-semiconductor Schottky diodes for use as transmission particledetectors in the biological microbeam at Columbia University’s Radiological Research Accelerator Facility (RARAF). The RARAF microbeam can deliver a precise dose of ionizing radiation in cell nuclei with sub-micron precision. To ensure an accurate delivery of charged particles, the facility currently uses a commercial charged-particledetector placed after the sample. We present here a transmission detector that will be placed between the particle accelerator and the biological specimen, allowing the irradiation of samples that would otherwise block radiation from reaching a detector behind the sample. Four detectors were fabricated with co-planar gold and aluminum electrodes thermally evaporated onto etched n-type crystalline silicon substrates, with device thicknesses ranging from 8.5 μm – 13.5 μm. We show coincident detections and pulse-height distributions of charged particles in both the transmission detector and the commercial detector above it. Detections are demonstrated at a range of operating conditions, including incoming particle type, count rate, and beam location on the detectors. The 13.5 μm detector is shown to work best to detect 2.7 MeV protons (H+), and the 8.5 μm detector is shown to work best to detect 5.4 MeV alpha particles (4He++). The development of a transmission detector enables a range of new experiments to take place at RARAF on radiation-stopping samples such as thick tissues, targets that need immersion microscopy, and integrated microfluidic devices for handling larger quantities of cells and small organisms. PMID:24058378

Ionization chambers working in ambient air in current detection mode are attractive due to their simplicity and low cost and are widely used in several applications such as smoke detection, dosimetry, therapeutic beam monitoring and so on. The aim of this work was to investigate if gaseous detectors can operate in ambient air in pulse counting mode as well as with gas amplification which potentially offers the highest possible sensitivity in applications like alpha particle detection or high energy X-ray photon or electron detection. To investigate the feasibility of this method two types of open- end gaseous detectors were build and successfully tested. The first one was a single wire or multiwire cylindrical geometry detector operating in pulse mode at a gas gain of one (pulse ionization chamber). This detector was readout by a custom made wide -band charge sensitive amplifier able to deal with slow induced signals generated by slow motion of negative and positive ions. The multiwire detector was able to detect alpha particles with an efficiency close to 22%. The second type of an alpha detector was an innovative GEM-like detector with resistive electrodes operating in air in avalanche mode at high gas gains (up to 104). This detector can also operate in a cascaded mode or being combined with other detectors, for example with MICROMEGAS. This detector was readout by a conventional charge -sensitive amplifier and was able to detect alpha particles with 100% efficiency. This detector could also detect X-ray photons or fast electrons. A detailed comparison between these two detectors is given as well as a comparison with commercially available alpha detectors. The main advantages of gaseous detectors operating in air in a pulse detection mode are their simplicity, low cost and high sensitivity. One of the possible applications of these new detectors is alpha particle background monitors which, due to their low cost can find wide application not only in houses, but

On December 3, 1997, a rocket payload (36.152) was launched from Ny Alesund into the dark cusp at 0906:00 U (1206:00 LT) during an interval of southward B(sub Z), and positive B(sub y). Launch occurred during a time interval of northeastward moving auroral forms observed between 0845 and 0945 UT by ground-based meridian scanning photometers. Ground photometric measurements during the flight show that the payload passed over the poleward portion of the most intense 6300 A emissions of the dayside cusp/cleft region. Electrons of energy up to a few hundred eV were detected immediately upon instrument turn-on at an altitude of 205 km and throughout the flight until the payload reached an altitude of approximately 197 km on the downleg. Electron spectra were either quasithermal with peak energies approximately 100 eV or showed evidence of acceleration along the magnetic field line by potentials of 100-200 V. Precipitating ions were observed throughout much of the flight. Their spectra were broadly peaked in energy with the peak energy decreasing from approximately 500 eV to approximately 250 eV as the payload flew approximately westward over the dayside precipitationregion. Structure(spatial or temporal intensity variation) was observed between T + 180 s and T + approximately 400 s. At the rocket altitudes(less than 450km) the ions were observed to be precipitating. During the flight, the DMSPF-13 satellite passed through the all-sky imager field-of-view just poleward of the brightest dayside emissions enabling the identification of plasma sheet and boundary layer regions along the orbit. We thus conclude that particle fluxes detected by the rocket flight were either cusp plasma or boundary layer/mantle plasmajust poleward of the dayside cusp/cleft. Further investigation of the particle characteristics and their relationship to ionospheric convection patterns is continuing.

A Thomson parabola ion spectrometer has been designed for use at the Multiterawatt (MTW) laser facility at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE) at the University of Rochester. This device uses parallel electric and magnetic fields to deflect particles of a given mass-to-charge ratio onto parabolic curves on the detector plane. Once calibrated, the position of the ions on the detector plane can be used to determine the particleenergy. The position dispersion of both the electric and magnetic fields of the Thomson parabola was measured using monoenergetic proton and alpha particle beams from the SUNY Geneseo 1.7 MV tandem Pelletron accelerator. The sensitivity of Fujifilm BAS-TR imaging plates, used as a detector in the Thomson parabola, was also measured as a function of the incident particleenergy over the range from 0.6 MeV to 3.4 MeV for protons and deuterons and from 0.9 MeV to 5.4 MeV for alpha particles. The device was used to measure the energy spectrum of laser-produced protons at MTW. PMID:21806176

A Thomson parabola ion spectrometer has been designed for use at the Multiterawatt (MTW) laser facility at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE) at the University of Rochester. This device uses parallel electric and magnetic fields to deflect particles of a given mass-to-charge ratio onto parabolic curves on the detector plane. Once calibrated, the position of the ions on the detector plane can be used to determine the particleenergy. The position dispersion of both the electric and magnetic fields of the Thomson parabola was measured using monoenergetic proton and alpha particle beams from the SUNY Geneseo 1.7 MV tandem Pelletron accelerator. The sensitivity of Fujifilm BAS-TR imaging plates, used as a detector in the Thomson parabola, was also measured as a function of the incident particleenergy over the range from 0.6 MeV to 3.4 MeV for protons and deuterons and from 0.9 MeV to 5.4 MeV for alpha particles. The device was used to measure the energy spectrum of laser-produced protons at MTW.

A cosmic dust detector for use onboard a satellite is currently being developed by using piezoelectric lead zirconate titanate (PZT). The characteristics of the PZT detector have been studied by bombarding it with hypervelocity iron (Fe) particles supplied by a Van de Graaff accelerator. One central electrode and four peripheral electrodes were placed on the front surface of the PZT detector to measure the impact positions of the incident Fe particles. It was demonstrated that the point of impact on the PZT detector could be identified by using information on the time at which the first peak of the output signal obtained from each electrode appeared.

We have constructed a prototype Direct Ring Imaging ˘ Cerenkov (DIRC) detector in our optics lab to study its performance for identifying pions and kaons. This type of detector will be used for the Belle II experiment now under construction at the KEK laboratory in Japan. To test our prototype, we have constructed a cosmic ray telescope (CRT) that is able to trigger on and reconstruct cosmic ray tracks. We require that the tracks traverse the DIRC detector and study the resulting detector response.

A new type of dust particledetector has been developed which consists of a polarized film of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) having conducting electrons on its surface and operating with no bias voltage. Here, the response characteristics of PVDF detectors with areas in the range 4-150 sq cm and thickness in the range 2-28 microns to iron particles accelerated to velocities in the range 1-12 km/s are reported. The discussion also covers the mechanism of detection, fast pulse response, noise characteristics, and the dependence of the detector signal amplitude on particle mass and velocity. The detectors exhibit long-term stability and can be operated for extended periods of time over the temperature range -50 to +50 C; their response to dust particle impacts is unaffected by high background fluxes of charged particles.

The alpha magnetic spectrometer (AMS) is a multi-purpose particledetector designed for operation in space [The AMS collaboration, Alcaraz, J., et al., (2002) "The alpha magnetic spectrometer (AMS)", Nucl. Instr. Meth., A 478, 119-122; The AMS collaboration, Alpat, B. (2001) "The alpha magnetic spectrometer (AMS) experiment on the international space station", Nucl. Instr. Meth., A 461, 272-274; Battiston, R. (1998) "The alpha magnetic spectrometer (AMS)", Nucl. Instr. Meth., A 409, 458-463; Buenerd M (2001) AMS, a particle spectrometer in space. Talk given at the XXIV Symposium on Nuclear Physics in Taxco, Mexico].† It will be mounted on the International Space Station† by the end of 2005 as shown in Fig. 1. There it will investigate the primary cosmic particle spectrum undistorted by the earth's atmosphere. About 1011 particles in the energy range up to a few TeV will be analysed for mass, electrical charge and energy. The unpreceded precision and statistics of the data will allow new insights in the physics of cosmic rays, especially in the asymmetry between matter and antimatter and in the nature of dark matter.

It has been known for some time that a 2-dimensional charge-coupled device (CCD) might be used for detecting high energyparticles with high precision and excellent 2-track resolution. Such detectors could be used to distinguish between prompt tracks and decay products in events producing short-lived particles (heavy leptons, charm, beauty etc.). We now present results in which (for the first time) a telescope of CCD detectors has been operated in a beam of high energyparticles. The main results are that even these early detectors have excellent performance characteristics, namely efficiency for track detection of 98±2% per plane, spatial resolution of 4.3 μm and 6.1 μm in two orthogonal directions and 2-track resolution of 40 μm in space.

A multi-element solid state detector has been designed to measure fluences of fragments produced near the beam axis by high energy heavy ion beams in thick targets. The detector is compact and modular, so as to be readily reconfigured according to the range of fragment charges and energies to be measured. Preamplifier gain settings and detector calibrations are adjustable remotely under computer control. We describe the central detector, its associated detectors and electronics, triggering scheme, data acquisition and particle identification techniques, illustrated by data taken with 600 MeV/u 56Fe beams and thick polyethylene targets at the LBL Bevalac. The applications of this work to space radiation protection are discussed.

On December 3, 1997, a rocket payload (36.152) was launched from N(sub y) Alesund into the dark cusp at 0906:00 U (1206:00 LT) during an interval of southward B(sub z) and positive B(sub y). Launch occurred during a time interval of northeastward moving auroral forms observed between 0845 and 0945 UT by ground-based meridian scanning photometers. Ground photometric measurements during the flight show that the payload passed over the poleward portion of the most intense 6300 A emissions of the dayside cusp/cleft region. Electrons of energy up to a few hundred eV were detected immediately upon instrument turn-on at an altitude of 205 km and throughout the flight until the payload reached an altitude of -197 km on the downleg. Electron spectra were either quasithermal with peak energies -100 eV or showed evidence of acceleration along the magnetic field line by potentials of 100-200 V. Precipitating ions were observed throughout much of the flight. Their spectra were broadly peaked in energy with the peak energy decreasing from -500 eV to -250 eV as the payload flew approximately westward over the dayside precipitation region. Structure (spatial or temporal intensity variation) was observed between T + 180 s and T + -400 s. At the rocket altitudes (<450 km) the ions were observed to be precipitating. During the flight, the DMSP F-13 satellite passed through the all-sky imager field-of-view just poleward of the brightest dayside emissions enabling the identification of plasma sheet and boundary layer regions along the orbit. We thus conclude that particle fluxes detected by the rocket flight were either cusp plasma or boundary layer/mantle plasma just poleward of the dayside cusp/cleft. A paper describing the fields and plasmas observed during the flight is now being prepared for publication.

The KM2A (one kilometer square extensive air shower array) is the largest detector array in the LHAASO (Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory) project. The KM2A consists of 5242 EDs (Electromagnetic particleDetectors) and 1221 MDs (Muon Detectors). The EDs are distributed and exposed in the wild. Two channels, anode and dynode, are employed for the PMT (photomultiplier tube) signal readout. The readout electronics designed in this paper aims at accurate charge and arrival time measurement of the PMT signals, which cover a large amplitude range from 20 P.E. (photoelectrons) to 2 × 105 P.E. By using a “trigger-less” architecture, we digitize signals close to the PMTs. All digitized data is transmitted to DAQ (Data Acquisition) via a simplified White Rabbit protocol. Compared with traditional high energy experiments, high precision of time measurement over such a large area and suppression of temperature effects in the wild become the key techniques. Experiments show that the design has fulfilled the requirements in this project. Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (11375210) and the Knowledge Innovation Fund of IHEP, Beijing

A review is presented of experiments performed using the KEDR detector at the VEPP-4M accelerator complex for the precise measurement of particle masses. The resonant depolarization method, proposed in 1975 at the G I Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics of the RAS Siberian Branch for measuring beam energy, has undergone further development in the experiments described; an unprecedented accuracy of 5\\times 10^{-7} has been achieved. Application of this method together with measurement of the Compton backscattering energy allowed a series of experiments to be carried out which have provided the world's most accurate mass values for the J/{\\rm\\psi}, {\\psi(2S)}, {\\psi(3770)}, and D^{+/- } mesons for the {\\tau}-lepton.

Andreev surface bound sates are known to exist on the boundaries of superfluid ^3He-B. However, the detailed nature of their interaction with bulk quasi-particles is not well known. In a manner similar to angle-resolved photo-emission spectroscopy, surface states can be probed by measuring the change in momentum of bulk quasi-particles scattered from the surface. In order to make such a measurement, we have designed a spatially resolved quasi-particledetector. The detector consists of an array of micro-machined resonators, which are sensitive to quasi-particle flux. The detector is based on previously developed micro-machined resonators, which have been successfully used to study superfluid ^3He-B and ^4He. Presented here is the design of the detector and the fabrication procedure.

A detector system is described, employing a time-of-flight versus residual energy technique which allows measurement of particle composition (H-Fe), energy spectral and anisotropies in an energy range unaccessible with previously flown sensors. Applications of this method to measurements of the solar wind ion composition are discussed.

A novel detector system is described, employing a time-of-flight versus residual energy technique which allows measurement of particle composition (H-Fe), energy spectra and anisotropies in an energy range unaccessible with previously flown sensors. Applications of this method to measurements of the solar wind ion composition are also discussed.

Cosmic dust may be serious radiation hazard to man and electronic equipment caught in its path. Dust detector uses two operational amplifiers and offers narrower areas for collection of cosmic dust. Detector provides excellent resolution as result of which recording of particle velocities as well as positions of their impact are more accurately determined.

Abstract Semiconductor detectors in general have a dead layer at their surfaces that is either a result of natural or induced passivation, or is formed during the process of making a contact. Charged particles passing through this region produce ionization that is incompletely collected and recorded, which leads to departures from the ideal in both energy deposition and resolution. The silicon p-i-n diode used in the KATRIN neutrinomass experiment has such a dead layer. We have constructed a detailed Monte Carlo model for the passage of electrons from vacuum into a silicon detector, and compared the measured energy spectra to the predicted ones for a range of energies from 12 to 20 keV. The comparison provides experimental evidence that a substantial fraction of the ionization produced in the "dead" layer evidently escapes by discussion, with 46% being collected in the depletion zone and the balance being neutralized at the contact or by bulk recombination. The most elementary model of a thinner dead layer from which no charge is collected is strongly disfavored.

Rapid fire detection requires the ability to differentiate fire signatures from background conditions and nuisance sources. Proper design of a fire detector requires detailed knowledge of all of these signal sources so that a discriminating detector can be designed. Owing to the absence of microgravity smoke data, all current spacecraft smoke detectors were designed based upon normal-g conditions. The removal of buoyancy reduces the velocities in the high temperature zones in flames, increasing the residence time of smoke particles and consequently allowing longer growth time for the particles. Recent space shuttle experiments confirmed that, in some cases, increased particles sizes are seen in low-gravity and that the relative performance of the ISS (International Space Station) and space-shuttle smoke-detectors changes in low-gravity; however, sufficient particle size information to design new detectors was not obtained. To address this issue, the SAME (Smoke Aerosol Measurement Experiment) experiment is manifested to fly on the ISS in 2007. The SAME experiment will make measurements of the particle size distribution of the smoke particulate from several typical spacecraft materials providing quantitative design data for spacecraft smoke detectors. A precursor experiment (DAFT: Dust Aerosol measurement Feasibility Test) flew recently on the ISS and provided the first measurement of the background smoke particulate levels on the ISS. These background levels are critical to the design of future smoke detectors. The ISS cabin was found to be a very clean environment with particulate levels substantially below the space shuttle and typical ground-based environments.

The Jupiter Energetic ParticleDetector Instruments (JEDI) on the Juno Jupiter polar-orbiting, atmosphere-skimming, mission to Jupiter will coordinate with the several other space physics instruments on the Juno spacecraft to characterize and understand the space environment of Jupiter's polar regions, and specifically to understand the generation of Jupiter's powerful aurora. JEDI comprises 3 nearly-identical instruments and measures at minimum the energy, angle, and ion composition distributions of ions with energies from H:20 keV and O: 50 keV to >1 MeV, and the energy and angle distribution of electrons from <40 to >500 keV. Each JEDI instrument uses microchannel plates (MCP) and thin foils to measure the times of flight (TOF) of incoming ions and the pulse height associated with the interaction of ions with the foils, and it uses solid state detectors (SSD's) to measure the total energy (E) of both the ions and the electrons. The MCP anodes and the SSD arrays are configured to determine the directions of arrivals of the incoming charged particles. The instruments also use fast triple coincidence and optimum shielding to suppress penetrating background radiation and incoming UV foreground. Here we describe the science objectives of JEDI, the science and measurement requirements, the challenges that the JEDI team had in meeting these requirements, the design and operation of the JEDI instruments, their calibrated performances, the JEDI inflight and ground operations, and the initial measurements of the JEDI instruments in interplanetary space following the Juno launch on 5 August 2011. Juno will begin its prime science operations, comprising 32 orbits with dimensions 1.1×40 RJ, in mid-2016.

The design, construction and test of a charged particledetector made of scintillation counters read by Silicon Photomultipliers (SiPM) is described. The detector, which operates in vacuum and is used as a veto counter in the NA62 experiment at CERN, has a single channel time resolution of 1.14 ns, a spatial resolution of ~2.5 mm and an efficiency very close to 1 for penetrating charged particles.

This paper presents measurements of distributions of charged particles which are produced in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of √{s} = 8 TeV and recorded by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. A special dataset recorded in 2012 with a small number of interactions per beam crossing (below 0.004) and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 160 μ b^{-1} was used. A minimum-bias trigger was utilised to select a data sample of more than 9 million collision events. The multiplicity, pseudorapidity, and transverse momentum distributions of charged particles are shown in different regions of kinematics and charged-particle multiplicity, including measurements of final states at high multiplicity. The results are corrected for detector effects and are compared to the predictions of various Monte Carlo event generator models which simulate the full hadronic final state.

This study presents measurements of distributions of charged particles which are produced in proton–proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of √s=8TeV and recorded by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. A special dataset recorded in 2012 with a small number of interactions per beam crossing (below 0.004) and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 160 μb-1 was used. A minimum-bias trigger was utilised to select a data sample of more than 9 million collision events. The multiplicity, pseudorapidity, and transverse momentum distributions of charged particles are shown in different regions of kinematics and charged-particle multiplicity, including measurements of final statesmore » at high multiplicity. Finally, the results are corrected for detector effects and are compared to the predictions of various Monte Carlo event generator models which simulate the full hadronic final state.« less

Solid-state nuclear track detectors, such as CR-39, are widely used in physics and in many inertial confinement fusion (ICF) experiments. In the ICF experiments, the particles of interest, such as D(3)He-protons, have ranges of order of the detector thickness. In this case, the dynamic range of the detector can be extended by recording data on both the front and back sides of the detector. Higher energyparticles which are undetectable on the front surface can then be measured on the back of the detector. Studies of track formation under the conditions on the front and back of the detector reveal significant differences. Distinct front and back energy calibrations of CR-39 are therefore necessary and are presented for protons. Utilizing multiple surfaces with additional calibrations can extend the range of detectable energies on a single piece of CR-39 by up to 7-8 MeV. The track formation process is explored with a Monte Carlo code, which shows that the track formation difference between front and back is due to the non-uniform ion energy deposition in matter. PMID:21895237

The Planck High Frequency Instrument (HFI) surveyed the sky continuously from August 2009 to January 2012. Its noise and sensitivity performance were excellent (from 11 to 40 aW Hz-1), but the rate of cosmic-ray impacts on the HFI detectors was unexpectedly higher than in other instruments. Furthermore, collisions of cosmic rays with the focal plane produced transient signals in the data (glitches) with a wide range of characteristics and a rate of about one glitch per second. A study of cosmic-ray impacts on the HFI detector modules has been undertaken to categorize and characterize the glitches, to correct the HFI time-ordered data, and understand the residual effects on Planck maps and data products. This paper evaluates the physical origins of glitches observed by the HFI detectors. To better understand the glitches observed by HFI in flight, several ground-based experiments were conducted with flight-spare HFI bolometer modules. The experiments were conducted between 2010 and 2013 with HFI test bolometers in different configurations using varying particles and impact energies. The bolometer modules were exposed to 23 MeV protons from the Orsay IPN Tandem accelerator, and to 241Am and 244Cm α-particle and 55Fe radioactive X-ray sources. The calibration data from the HFI ground-based preflight tests were used to further characterize the glitches and compare glitch rates with statistical expectations under laboratory conditions. Test results provide strong evidence that the dominant family of glitches observed in flight are due to cosmic-ray absorption by the silicon die substrate on which the HFI detectors reside. Glitch energy is propagated to the thermistor by ballistic phonons, while thermal diffusion also contributes. The average ratio between the energy absorbed, per glitch, in the silicon die and thatabsorbed in the bolometer is equal to 650. We discuss the implications of these results for future satellite missions, especially those in the far

The Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) on board the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover Curiosity has collected data on the interplanetary radiation environment during cruise from Earth to Mars and at the surface of Mars since its landing in August 2012. RAD's particle detection capabilities are achieved with a solid-state detector (SSD) stack (A, B, C), a CsI(Tl) scintillator (D), and a plastic scintillator (E) for neutron detection. The D and E detectors are surrounded by an anticoincidence shield (F), also made of plastic scintillator. All scintillators are optically coupled to silicon diodes which convert scintillation light to electrons. RAD is capable of measuring both Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCRs) thought to be produced by supernovae outside the heliosphere and Solar Energetic Particles (SEPs). GCRs are relativistic particles (100 MeV/nuc to >10 GeV/nuc) composed of roughly 89% protons, 10% alpha particles (He), and 1% heavier nuclei [1]. Because of their high energies and continuous nature, GCRs are the dominant source of background radiation at the Martian surface, and are responsible for the production of secondary particles (notably neutrons) via complex interactions in the atmosphere and regolith. SEPs are produced by coronal mass ejections. These intermittent storms are most likely to occur near solar maximum and typical fluxes are dominated by protons with energies lower than 100 MeV/nuc. Unlike the GCR flux, the SEP flux can vary by five or more orders of magnitude over timescales of a day. Even under a constant flux of energetic particle radiation at the top of the atmosphere, the radiation dose at the surface should vary as a function of surface elevation [2]. This variation is directly related to the change in the shielding provided by the total atmospheric mass column, which is to a very good approximation directly related to surface pressure. Thus, the flux of primary energetic particles should increase with altitude, all other things being equal

A large cosmic ray detector aimed at measurements of the energy spectra and of the elemental abundances of cosmic ray nuclei at very high energies, up to several TeV/nucleon was constructed. The instrument is an electronic counter telescope with a geometric factor of 5 sq ster. It accomplishes measurements of the particleenergies through the use of gas Cerenkov counters and of transition radiation detectors. The solutions of a number of technological problems that are encountered when developing such instrumentation for Shuttle missions are discussed.

Since the discovery of X-rays by Roentgen in 1895 physicists have played a major role in the development of medical imaging instrumentation. More recently, the technological developments in several areas of applied physics, the new generation of particle physics detectors and the development of an information-based society all combine to enhance the performance of presently available imaging devices. This paper describes the critical parameters of modern medical imaging in the context of the spectacular development of in-vivo molecular imaging, which will soon allow to bridge post-genomics research activities with new diagnostics and therapeutic strategies for major diseases. In particular, the molecular profiling of tumors and gene expression open the way to tailored therapies and therapeutic monitoring of major diseases like cancer, degenerative and genetic disorders. Moreover, the repeatability of non-invasive approaches allows an evaluation of drug targeting and pharmacokinetics studies on small animals, as well as a precise screening and treatment follow-up of patients. The technical requirements on imaging devices are very challenging but are rather similar in many respects to the ones of modern particledetectors on high-luminosity accelerators. Examples will be given of active technology transfer areas from high-energy physics detectors, which can significantly improve the performance of future medical imaging devices. Special emphasis will be put on the need for a globalization of technology research and development as modern instrumentation in a vast range of applications has similar requirements and spin-off should be more and more understood as cross-fertilization between different disciplines.

A report presents a concept for an instrument to be flown in outer space, where it would detect dust particles - especially those associated with comets. The instrument would include a flat plate that would intercept the dust particles. The anticipated spacecraft/dust-particle relative speeds are so high that the impingement of a dust particle on the plate would generate a plasma cloud. Simple electric dipole sensors located equidistantly along the circumference of the plate would detect the dust particle indirectly by detecting the plasma cloud. The location of the dust hit could be estimated from the timing of the detection pulses of the different dipoles. The mass and composition of the dust particle could be estimated from the shapes and durations of the pulses from the dipoles. In comparison with other instruments for detecting hypervelocity dust particles, the proposed instrument offers advantages of robustness, large collection area, and simplicity.

Thin film semiconductor neutron detectors are an attractive candidate to replace {sup 3}He neutron detectors, due to the possibility of low cost manufacturing and the potential for large areas. Polycrystalline CdTe is found to be an excellent material for thin film charged particle detectors—an integral component of a thin film neutron detector. The devices presented here are characterized in terms of their response to alpha and gamma radiation. Individual alpha particles are detected with an intrinsic efficiency of >80%, while the devices are largely insensitive to gamma rays, which is desirable so that the detector does not give false positive counts from gamma rays. The capacitance-voltage behavior of the devices is studied and correlated to the response due to alpha radiation. When coupled with a boron-based neutron converting material, the CdTe detectors are capable of detecting thermal neutrons.

Semiconductor tracking detectors at experiments such as ATLAS and LHCb at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will be subjected to intense levels of radiation. The proposed machine upgrade, the Super-LHC (SLHC), to 10 times the initial luminosity of the LHC will require detectors that are ultra-radiation hard. Much of the current research into finding a detector that will meet the requirements of the SLHC has focused on using silicon substrates with enhanced levels of oxygen, for example Czochralski silicon and diffusion oxygenated float zone silicon, and into novel detector structures such as 3D devices. Another avenue currently being investigated is the use of wide band gap semiconductors such as silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN). Both SiC and GaN should be intrinsically more radiation hard than silicon. Pad and guard ring structures were fabricated on three epitaxial GaN wafers. The epitaxial GaN thickness was either 2.5 or 12 μm and the fabricated detectors were irradiated to various fluences with 24 GeV/c protons and 1 MeV neutrons. Detectors were characterised pre- and post-irradiation by performing current-voltage ( I- V) and charge collection efficiency (CCE) measurements. Devices fabricated on 12 μm epitaxial GaN irradiated to fluences of 1016 protons cm-2 and 1016 neutrons cm-2 show maximum CCE values of 26% and 20%, respectively, compared to a maximum CCE of 53% of the unirradiated device.

In this paper, we describe some of the computational challenges that need to be addressed when developing active Space Radiation Monitors and Dosimeters using the Timepix detectors developed by the Medipix2 Collaboration at CERN. Measurement of the Linear Energy Transfer (LET), the source and velocity of incident ionizing radiation, are of initial interest when developing such operational devices because they provide the capability to calculate the Dose-equivalent, and to characterize the radiation field for the design of radiation protective devices. In order to facilitate the LET measurement, we first propose a new method for calculating azimuth direction and polar angle of individual tracks of penetrating charged particles based on the pixel clusters they produce. We then describe an energy compensation method for heavy ion tracks suffering from saturation and plasma effects. Finally, we identify interactions within the detector that need to be excluded from the total effective Dose-Equivalent assessment. We make use of data taken at the HIMAC (Heavy Ion Medical Accelerator Center) facility in Chiba, Japan and NSRL (NASA Space Radiation Laboratory) at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York, USA for evaluation purposes.

We present methods to improve the energy resolution of single channel, room-temperature Cadmium-Zinc-Telluride (CZT) detectors. A new preamplifier design enables the acquisition of the actual transient current from the crystals and straightforward data analysis methods yield unprecedented energy resolution for our test-detectors. These consist of an eV-CAPture Plus crystal as standard and 1 cm cube Frisch collar crystals created in-house from low-grade coplanar grid detectors. Energy resolutions of 1.9% for our collar detectors and 0.8% for the eV crystal at 662 keV were obtained. The latter compares favourably to the best existing energy resolution results from pixel detectors.

The Beach Monitoring Steering Group (BMSG) was set up by UKAEA to explore whether improved systems for beach monitoring of radioactive particles are available. The BMSG commissioned the British Geological Survey (BGS) and the Nuclear Geophysics Division of the Kernfysisch Versneller Instituut (KVI/NGD), and other companies, to test their most sensitive system. This paper presents the results of trials in a specially created test facility at UKAEA Harwell with a large BGO detector. The detector's size and weight mean that it would be suitable for vehicle deployment but would be too large and heavy to carry in areas that could not be accessed by a vehicle. However, it would be possible to use the same methodology that is described here with a smaller detector capable of being carried in a backpack, albeit with reduced sensitivity for particle detection. The approach that we present is also applicable, with modifications, to the detection of offshore particles using a towed seabed detector.

Z-pinch plasma radiation sources are used to dose test objects with K-shell (˜1-4keV) x-rays. The implosion physics can produce high energy electrons (> 50keV), which could distort interpretation of the soft x-ray effects. We describe the design and implementation of a diagnostic suite to characterize the electron environment of Al wire and Ar gas puff z-pinches on Sphinx. The design used ITS calculations to model detector response to both soft x-rays and electrons and help set upper bounds to the spurious electron flux. Strategies to discriminate between the known soft x-ray emission and the suspected electron flux will be discussed. H.Calamy et al, ``Use of microsecond current prepulse for dramatic improvements of wire array Z-pinch implosion,'' Phys Plasmas 15, 012701 (2008) J.A.Halbleib et al, ``ITS: the integrated TIGER series of electron/photon transport codes-Version 3.0,'' IEEE Trans on Nuclear Sci, 39, 1025 (1992)

The Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD)—situated inside the Mars Science Laboratory's Curiosity rover—is the first ever instrument to measure the energetic particle radiation environment on the surface of Mars. To fully understand the influence of this surface radiation field in terms of potential hazard to life, a detailed knowledge of its composition is necessary. Charged particles are a major component of this environment, both galactic cosmic rays propagating to the Martian surface and secondary particles created by interactions of these cosmic rays with the atoms of the Martian atmosphere and soil. Here we present particle fluxes for a wide range of ion species, providing detailed energy spectra in the low-energy range (up to several hundred MeV/nucleon particleenergy), and integral fluxes for higher energies. In addition to being crucial for the understanding of the hazards of this radiation to possible future manned missions to Mars, the data reported here provide valuable input for evaluating and validating particle transport models currently used to estimate the radiation environment on Mars and elsewhere in space. It is now possible for the first time to compare model results for expected surface particle fluxes with actual ground-based measurements.

We are continuing our work on the {Lambda} hyperon single-particle (s.p.) energies and their interpretation in terms of the basic {Lambda}-nuclear interactions. In particular we are interpreting the results obtained by S.C. Pieper, A. Usmani and Q.N. Usmani. We obtain about 30 MeV for the repulsive contribution of the three-body {Lambda}NN forces in nuclear matter. We are able to exclude purely {open_quotes}dispersive{close_quotes} {Lambda}NN forces. We are investigating the mix of dispersive and two-pion-exchange {Lambda}NN forces which provide a fit to the s.p. data. For interactions, which provide a fit to the s.p. data, the {Lambda} binding energy as a function of the nuclear matter density shows characteristic saturation features with a maximum at a density not very different from that of normal nuclear matter. We obtain a more precise measure of the space-exchange part of the {Lambda}-nuclear force than was previously available, corresponding to an exchange parameter {approx_equal} 0.32. The space-exchange force is rather directly related to the effective mass of a {Lambda} in the nuclear medium and turns out to be about 70% of its free mass. As a result, we also obtain a much better value for the p-state {Lambda}-nucleus potential which is about 40% of the s-state potential. The A binding to nuclear matter is determined to be {approx_equal} 28 MeV.

This field evaluation study was conducted to assess new technology designed to measure number concentrations of strongly acidic ultrafine particles. Interest in these particles derives from their potential to cause adverse health effects. Current methods for counting and sizing airborne ultrafine particles cannot isolate those particles that are acidic. We hypothesized that the size-resolved number concentration of such particles to which people are exposed could be measured by newly developed iron nanofilm detectors on which sulfuric acid (H2SO4*) droplets produce distinctive ringed reaction sites visible by atomic force microscopy (AFM). We carried out field measurements using an array of samplers, with and without the iron nanofilm detectors, that allowed indirect comparison of particle number concentrations and size-resolved measures of acidity. The iron nanofilm detectors are silicon chips (5 mm x 5 mm x 0.6 mm) that are coated with iron by vapor deposition. The iron layer was 21.5 or 26 nm thick for the two batches used in these experiments. After exposure the detector surface was scanned topographically by AFM to view and enumerate the ringed acid reaction sites and deposited nonacidic particles. The number of reaction sites and particles per scan can be counted directly on the image displayed by AFM. Sizes can also be measured, but for this research we did not size particles collected in the field. The integrity of the surface of iron nanofilm detectors was monitored by laboratory analysis and by deploying blank detectors and detectors that had previously been exposed to H2SO4 calibration aerosols. The work established that the detectors could be used with confidence in temperate climates. Under extreme high humidity and high temperature, the surface film was liable to detach from the support, but remaining portions of the film still produced reliable data. Exposure to ambient gases in a filtered air canister during the field tests did not affect the film

The high-energy neutron component of the space radiation environment in thick structures such as the International Space Station contributes to the total radiation dose received by an astronaut. Detector design constraints such as size and mass have limited the energy range of neutron spectrum measurements in orbit to about 12 MeV in Space Shuttle studies. We present a new method for high-energy neutron spectroscopy using small silicon detectors that can extend these measurements to more than 500 MeV. The methodology is based on measurement of the detector response function for high-energy neutrons and inversion of this response function with measured deposition data to deduce neutron energy spectra. We also present the results of an initial shielding study performed with the thick silicon detector system for high-energy neutrons incident on polyethylene. PMID:12537520

The high-energy neutron component of the space radiation environment in thick structures such as the International Space Station contributes to the total radiation dose received by an astronaut. Detector design constraints such as size and mass have limited the energy range of neutron spectrum measurements in orbit to about 12 MeV in Space Shuttle studies. We present a new method for high-energy neutron spectroscopy using small silicon detectors that can extend these measurements to more than 500 MeV. The methodology is based on measurement of the detector response function for high-energy neutrons and inversion of this response function with measured deposition data to deduce neutron energy spectra. We also present the results of an initial shielding study performed with the thick silicon detector system for high-energy neutrons incident on polyethylene.

Ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) are subatomic particles with energies above 1018 eV. UHECRs are of interest because they are the highest energyparticles known to exist. Their source(s), compositions, and the acceleration mechanisms to produce them with energies beyond 1020 eV remain unknown. The Pierre Auger Observatory, located in Argentina, is the world's largest UHECR observatory. It is one of the few a hybrid detectors in the world that combines surface (SD) and fluorescence (FD) detectors. The hybrid detection system is advantageous as it provides a more accurate reconstruction of the incoming cosmic ray's energy and trajectory as it travels through the atmosphere. However, even with the advantage of a hybrid detector, the Pierre Auger has limitations being a ground based observatory. The next generation in UHECR detection is the planned JEM-EUSO mission. The JEM-EUSO mission will consist of a fluorescence detector telescope attached to the International Space Station (ISS). The JEM-EUSO detector is expected to receive an exposure level to UHECRs many times that of the Pierre Auger Observatory by viewing a much larger volume of the atmosphere. In this presentation, I will discuss how data from specific UHECRs collected by the Pierre Auger Observatory is analyzed and altered to estimate what their signatures would look like from space at the planned JEM-EUSO detector. Research advisor

The subpanel on Major Detectors in Non-Accelerator Particle Physics was formed in February 1989 as the result of a letter from Robert Hunter, Director, Office of Energy Research, to Francis Low, Chairman of HEPAP. A copy of the letter is included in the Appendix to this report. The letter referred to the previous report of HEPAP Subpanel on High Energy Gamma Ray and Neutrino Astronomy which had found that several groups of scientists were working on promising new ideas and proposals in non-accelerator high energy physics and astrophysics; this report recommended that panel be formed to evaluate large projects in these areas of science when specific proposals were received by the funding agencies. In concurring with the recommendation, the request to establish this new Subpanel included the following specific charge: Within the context of changing world wide high energy physics activities and opportunities, review as necessary and evaluate the following major research proposals which have been submitted to the Department of Energy and/or to the National Science foundation: DUMAND II, GRANDE, and the Fly's Eye Upgrade.

Ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs), subatomic charged particles of extraterrestrial origin and with kinetic energies near or exceeding 10^18 eV, are very rare. The Telescope Array (TA) experiment in western Utah is the northern hemisphere's largest UHECR detector, and consists of three atmospheric fluorescence detectors (FDs) and a ground array of 507 scintillator detectors. In stand-alone ``monocular'' operation, the FDs can observe the widest range in primary UHECR energies. One FD employs refurbished hardware from the High-Resolution Fly's Eye experiment; the remaining two FDs were designed for TA and employ new hardware and analysis. We will present the UHECR energy spectrum measured by the FDs in monocular mode using data collected during the first four years of operation.

Electrons are, by definition, a fundamental, chemical and electromagnetic constituent of any plasma. This is especially true within the partially ionized plasmas of Earth's ionosphere where electrons are a critical component of a vast array of plasma processes. Siena College is working on a novel method of processing information from electron spectrometer anodes using delay line techniques and inexpensive COTS electronics to track the movement of high-energyparticles. Electron spectrometers use a variety of techniques to determine where an amplified electron cloud falls onto a collecting surface. One traditional method divides the collecting surface into sectors and uses a single detector for each sector. However, as the angular and spatial resolution increases, so does the number of detectors, increasing power consumption, cost, size, and weight of the system. An alternative approach is to connect each sector with a delay line built within the PCB material which is shielded from cross talk by a flooded ground plane. Only one pair of detectors (e.g., one at each end of the chain) are needed with the delay line technique which is different from traditional delay line detectors which use either Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs) or very fast clocks. In this paper, we report on the implementation and testing of a delay line detector using a low-cost Xilinx FPGA and a thirty-two sector delay system. This Delay Line Detector has potential satellite and rocket flight applications due to its low cost, small size and power efficiency

The activities at Penn State University are described. During the period Oct. 1990 to Dec. 1991 work on HEAO-1 analysis of the Low EnergyDetectors (LED) concentrated on using the improved detector spectral simulation model and fitting diffuse x-ray background spectral data. Spectral fitting results, x-ray point sources, and diffuse x-ray sources are described.

The trajectory of the particle is made visible under a microscope by the accumulation of metallic silver at regions of the lattice damaged by the particle. This decoration of the particle track is accomplished by exposure of the crystal to light. The decoration of normally present lattice imperfections such as dislocations can be suppressed by the addition to the crystal of less than ten parts per million of a suitable polyvalent metal impurity. An account of some preliminary attempts to grow thin single crystals of AgCl is given also, and suggestions for a more refined technique are offered.

The purpose of this SBIR Phase 1 feasibility effort was to demonstrate the usefulness of Quantex electron-trapping (ET) materials for spatial detection of nuclear particles over large areas. This demonstration entailed evaluating the prompt visible scintillation as nuclear particles impinged on films of ET materials, and subsequently detecting the nuclear particle impingement information pattern stored in the ET material, by means of the visible-wavelength luminescence produced by near-infrared interrogation. Readily useful levels of scintillation and luminescence outputs are demonstrated.

A photon detector for biological samples includes a block of NaI(T1) having a hole containing a thin walled cylinder of CsI(T1). At least three photo multiplier tubes are evenly spaced around the parameter of the block. Biological samples are placed within the hole, and emissions which are sensed by at least two of the photo multipliers from only the NaI(T1) detector are counted.

We advocate support of research aimed at developing alternatives to the photomultiplier tube for photon detection in large astroparticle experiments such as gamma-ray and neutrino astronomy, and direct dark matter detectors. Specifically, we discuss the development of large area photocathode microchannel plate photomultipliers and silicon photomultipliers. Both technologies have the potential to exhibit improved photon detection efficiency compared to existing glass vacuum photomultiplier tubes.

We advocate support of research aimed at developing alternatives to the photomultiplier tube for photon detection in large astroparticle experiments such as gamma-ray and neutrino astronomy, and direct dark matter detectors. Specifically, we discuss the development of large area photocathode microchannel plate photomultipliers and silicon photomultipliers. Both technologies have the potential to exhibit improved photon detection efficiency compared to existing glass vacuum photomultiplier tubes.

Charged-particle distributions are measured in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, using a data sample of nearly 9 million events, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 170 μb-1, recorded by the ATLAS detector during a special Large Hadron Collider fill. The charged-particle multiplicity, its dependence on transverse momentum and pseudorapidity and the dependence of the mean transverse momentum on the charged-particle multiplicity are presented. The measurements are performed with charged particles with transverse momentum greater than 500 MeV and absolute pseudorapidity less than 2.5, in events with at least one charged particle satisfying these kinematic requirements. Additional measurements in a reduced phase space with absolute pseudorapidity less than 0.8 are also presented, in order to compare with other experiments. The results are corrected for detector effects, presented as particle-level distributions and are compared to the predictions of various Monte Carlo event generators.

Pulse-shape discrimination with totally depleted Si-detectors in reverse mount has been investigated and shown to be an excellent method of charged-particle identification in the energy range of {approx}2 to 20 AMeV. In test experiments with heavy-ion beams the authors obtained element identification up to Ti and isotope resolution even for elements heavier than carbon. The promising results and the simplicity of the electronics recommend this technique for applications in multidetector arrays. In particular, small and compact 4{pi} Si balls with relatively low thresholds for charged-particle identification to be combined with 4{pi} neutron detectors or {gamma} arrays can be constructed.

It is well established that a significant portion of our Universe is comprised of invisible, non-luminous matter, commonly referred to as dark matter. The detection and characterization of this missing matter is an active area of research in cosmology and particle astrophysics. A general class of candidates for non-baryonic particle dark matter is weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs). WIMPs emerge naturally from supersymmetry with predicted masses between 1--1000 GeV. There are many current and near-future experiments that may shed light on the nature of dark matter by directly detecting WIMP-nucleus scattering events. The MAJORANA experiment will use p-type point contact (PPC) germanium detectors as both the source and detector to search for neutrinoless double-beta decay in 76Ge. These detectors have both exceptional energy resolution and low-energy thresholds. The low-energy performance of PPC detectors, due to their low-capacitance point-contact design, makes them suitable for direct dark matter searches. As a part of the research and development efforts for the MAJORANA experiment, a custom Canberra PPC detector has been deployed at the Kimballton Underground Research Facility in Ripplemead, Virginia. This detector has been used to perform a search for low-mass (< 10 GeV) WIMP induced nuclear recoils using a 221.49 live-day exposure. It was found that events originating near the surface of the detector plague the signal region, even after all cuts. For this reason, only an upper limit on WIMP induced nuclear recoils was placed. This limit is inconsistent with several recent claims to have observed light WIMP based dark matter.

This chapter reports on the study, development and production of hybrid preamplifiers for low noise data acquisition from solid state detectors. LABEN is devoted to the research, development and production of analog and digital instrumentation for nuclear, space and industrial applications. The hybrid preamplifiers are expected to reduce the size and cost in experiments requiring a high number of chains. LABEN has already produced a complete hybrid processor for data acquisition from radiation detectors in satellite experiments. Four types of preamplifiers are being developed: 1) a general purpose unit for Silicon detectors which can suit any type of application from telescope to microstrip detectors; 2) a low cost unit for microstrip Silicon detectors; 3) a special purpose preamplifier for very high counting rate applications with telescopes; and 4) a very low noise circuit for high energy applications of Germanium detectors.

The Mini-SPT project is the first, and most important, step towards the ambitious goal of creating a low-cost, compact, radiation hardened and high performance space particle telescope that can be mounted, in the near future, as standard particledetector on any satellite. Mini-SPT will be capable of providing high quality physics data on local space environment. In particular high precision flux measurement and tracking of low energy protons and electrons on different orbits with same instrumentation is of paramount importance for studies as geomagnetically trapped fluxes and space weather dynamics, dark matter search, low energy proton anisotropy and its effects on ICs as well as the solar protons studies. In addition, it will provide real-time "differentiable warnings" about the local space radiation hazard to other electronics systems on board the hosting satellite, including different criticality levels and alarm signals to activate mitigation techniques whenever this is strictly necessary to protect them from temporary/permanent failures. A real-time warning system will help satellite subsystems to save significant amount of power and memory with respect to other conventional techniques where the "mitigation" solutions are required to be active during entire mission life. The Mini-SPT will combine the use of technologies developed in cutting-edge high energy physics experiments (including technology from CMS experiments at CERN) and the development of new charged particle detecting systems for their use for the first time in space. The Mini-SPT essential objective is, by using for the first time in space SIPMs (Silicon Photomultipliers) technology for TOF and energy measurements, the production of high quality data with a good time, position and energy resolutions. The mini-SPT will consists of three main sub-units: a- A tracking and dE/dX measuring sub-detector which will be based on silicon pixel detectors (SPD) coupled to the rad-hard chip ROC-DIG (Read

A new position sensitive detector with a global energy resolution for the entire detector of about 380 eV FWHM for 8.04 keV line at ambient temperature is presented. The measured global energy resolution is defined by the energy spectra summed over all strips of the detector, and thus it includes electronic noise of the front-end electronics, charge sharing effects, matching of parameters across the channels and other system noise sources. The target energy resolution has been achieved by segmentation of the strips to reduce their capacitance and by careful optimization of the front-end electronics. The key design aspects and parameters of the detector are discussed briefly in the paper. Excellent noise and matching performance of the readout ASIC and negligible system noise allow us to operate the detector with a discrimination threshold as low as 1 keV and to measure fluorescence radiation lines of light elements, down to Al Kα of 1.49 keV, simultaneously with measurements of the diffraction patterns. The measurement results that demonstrate the spectrometric and count rate performance of the developed detector are presented and discussed in the paper.

Progress made in the experimental and theoretical high energy physics program is reviewed. The CLEO experiment, particle astrophysics, dynamical symmetry breaking in gauge theories, the Collider Detector at Fermilab, the TOPAZ Experiment, and elementary particle physics beyond the standard model are included.

Simbol-X is a French-Italian-German hard energy X-ray mission with a projected launch in 2014. Being sensitive in the energy range from 500 eV to 80 keV it will cover the sensitivity gap beyond the energy interval of today's telescopes XMM-Newton and Chandra. Simbol-X will use an imaging telescope of nested Wolter-I mirrors. To provide a focal length of 20 m it will be the first mission of two independent mirror and detector spacecrafts in autonomous formation flight. The detector spacecraft's payload is composed of an imaging silicon low energydetector in front of a pixelated cadmium-telluride hard energydetector. Both have a sensitive area of 8 × 8 cm2 to cover a 12 arcmin field of view and a pixel size of 625 × 625 μm2 adapted to the telescope's resolution of 20 arcsec. The additional LED specifications are: high energy resolution, high quantum efficiency, fast readout and optional window mode, monolithic device with 100 % fill factor and suspension mounting, and operation at warm temperature. To match these requirements the low energydetector is composed of 'active macro pixels', combining the large, scalable area of a Silicon Drift Detector and the low-noise, on-demand readout of an integrated DEPFET amplifier. Flight representative prototypes have been processed at the MPI semiconductor laboratory, and the prototype's measured performance demonstrates the technology readiness.

A review is conducted of the measurements of the intensities, energy spectra, angular variations, and composition characteristics of the low-energy ion population in and around the Jovian magnetosphere, taking into account data obtained by both Voyager spacecraft. A description is provided of some novel analysis techniques which have been employed to generate density, pressure, composition, and plasma flow profiles in the magnetosphere. The obtained results are compared with data reported in connection with other investigations related to the spacecraft. Attention is given to the Low-Energy Charged Particle investigation, the Voyager 1 and 2 trajectories within 1000 Jupiter radii, and a hot plasma model of the Jovian magnetosphere. The measurement of hot multispecies convected plasmas using energetic particledetectors is also discussed.

As the CDMS (Cryogenic Dark Matter Search) experiment is scaled up to tackle new dark matter parameter spaces (lower masses and cross-sections), detector production efficiency and repeatability becomes ever more important. A dedicated facility has been commissioned for SuperCDMS detector fabrication at Texas A&M University (TAMU). The fabrication process has been carefully tuned using this facility and its equipment. Production of successfully tested detectors has been demonstrated. Significant improvements in detector performance have been made using new fabrication methods, equipment, and tuning of process parameters. This work has demonstrated the capability for production of next generation CDMS SNOLAB detectors. Additionally, as the dark matter parameter space is probed further, careful calibrations of detector response to nuclear recoil interactions must be performed in order to extract useful information (in relation to dark matter particle characterizations) from experimental results. A neutron beam of tunable energy is used in conjunction with a commercial radiation detector to characterize ionization energy losses in germanium during nuclear recoil events. Data indicates agreement with values predicted by the Lindhard equation, providing a best-fit k-value of 0.146.

The sensitivity of a directional gamma ray detector, which relies on blocking a source to determine its direction and energy spectrum, is calculated and compared to the more conventional well shaped shielded detectors. It is shown that such an anticollimator detection system provides a basis for measuring the celestial diffuse gamma ray background, gamma ray sources and bursts with good energy, angular, and time resolution, and that additionally the system is 20 to 50 times as sensitive as conventional detectors when compared on a per unit mass basis.

The sensitivity of a directional gamma ray detector, which relies on blocking a source to determine its direction and energy spectrum, is calculated and compared to the more conventional well-shaped shielded detectors. It is shown that such an anticollimator detection system provides a basis for measuring the celestial diffuse gamma ray background, gamma ray sources and bursts with good energy, angular, and time resolution, and that additionally the system is 20 to 50 times as sensitive as conventional detectors when compared on a per unit mass basis.

The Telescope Array experiment studies ultra high energy cosmic rays using a hybrid detector. Fluorescence telescopes measure the longitudinal development of the extensive air shower generated when a primary cosmic ray particle interacts with the atmosphere. Meanwhile, scintillator detectors measure the lateral distribution of secondary shower particles that hit the ground. The Middle Drum (MD) fluorescence telescope station consists of 14 telescopes from the High Resolution Fly's Eye (HiRes) experiment, providing a direct link back to the HiRes measurements. Using the scintillator detector data in conjunction with the telescope data improves the geometrical reconstruction of the showers significantly, and hence, provides a more accurate reconstruction of the energy of the primary particle. The Middle Drum hybrid spectrum is presented and compared to that measured by the Middle Drum station in monocular mode. Further, the hybrid data establishes a link between the Middle Drum data and the surface array. A comparison between the Middle Drum hybrid energy spectrum and scintillator Surface Detector (SD) spectrum is also shown.

In one aspect, the invention encompasses a method of detecting radioactive decay, comprising: a) providing a sample comprising a radioactive material, the radioactive material generating decay particles; b)providing a plurality of detectors proximate the sample, the detectors comprising a first set and a second set, the first set of the detectors comprising liquid state detectors utilizing liquid scintillation material coupled with photo tubes to generate a first electrical signal in response to decay particles stimulating the liquid scintillation material, the second set of the detectors comprising solid state detectors utilizing a crystalline solid to generate a second electrical signal in response to decay particles stimulating the crystalline solid; c) stimulating at least one of the detectors to generate at least one of the first and second electrical signals, the at least one of the first and second electrical signals being indicative of radioactive decay in the sample. In another aspect, the invention encompasses an apparatus for identifying and quantitating radioactive nuclei of a sample comprising radioactive material that decays to generate neutrons and high-energy .gamma.-rays.

The Main Injector Particle Production (MIPP) experiment at Fermilab is a fixed target hadron production experiment which uses 120 GeV/c primary protons from the Main Injector to produce secondary beams of ^±, K^±, p and p from 5 to 90 GeV/c as projectiles on nuclear targets. It is designed to measure particle production in interactions of projectile p/p/^±/K^± on nuclear targets which include H, Be, C, Bi and U, and a dedicated run with the NuMI target. We present the inelastic cross sections for 58 and 85 GeV/c p-H interactions, and 58 and 120 GeV/c p-C interactions. A new method is described to account for the low multiplicity inefficiencies in the interaction trigger using KNO scaling. Inelastic cross sections as a function of multiplicity are also presented. The MIPP data are compared with the Monte Carlo predictions and previous measurements. We also describe an algorithm to identify charged particles (^±/p/p etc.), and present preliminary e^±, ^±, K^±, p and p particle production cross sections in bins of pT^2 and xF.

Fundamental particles are always observed to carry charges which are integral multiples of one-third charge of electron, e/3. While this is a well established experimental fact, the theoretical understanding for the charge quantization phenomenon is lacking. On the other hand, there exist numerous theoretical models that naturally allow for existence of particles with fractional electromagnetic charge. These particles, if existing, hint towards existence of physics beyond the standard model. Multiple high energy, optical, cosmological and astrophysical considerations restrict the allowable mass-charge parameter space for these fractional charges. Still, a huge unexplored region remains. The Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMS-II), located at Soudan mines in northern Minnesota, employs germanium and silicon crystals to perform direct searches for a leading candidate to dark matter called Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs). Alternately, the low detection threshold allows search for fractional electromagnetic-charged particles, or Lightly Ionizing Particles (LIPs), moving at relativistic speed. Background rejection is obtained by requiring that the magnitude and location of energy deposited in each detector be consistent with corresponding \\signatures" resulting from the passage of a fractionally charged particle. In this dissertation, the CDMS-II data is analyzed to search for LIPs, with an expected background of 0.078 0.078 events. No candidate events are observed, allowing exclusion of new parameter space for charges between e/6 and e/200.

The field ionization neutral detector FIND operates according to the following principle: Neutral atoms are attracted toward the field ionization tips since they are polarized by the electric field of the tips. The atoms are singly ionized and repelled by the positive potential of the tips toward the detector situated behind a grid at ground potential. The ions deposit in the detector their kinetic energies, typically 26 keV, corresponding to the potential difference between the ionization region and the detector. Laboratory results show that FIND can have the resolution, sensitivities and durability required to perform in situ measurements of neutral H and He fluxes in interplanetary space, cometary halos and exospheres.

A d.c.-coupled transimpedance amplifier/pulse suppression circuit designed to remove charged-particle-induced noise from infrared detectors is described. Noise spikes produced by single particle events are large and have short rise times, and can degrade the performance of an infrared detector in moderate radiation environments. The use of the suppression circuit improves the signal-to-noise ratio by a factor of 1.6:1, which corresponds to a reduction in required observing time by a factor of about 2.6.

An apparatus and method are described for separating charged, high energyparticles of equal momentum forming a beam where the particles differ slightly in masses. Magnetic lenses are utilized to focus the beam and maintain that condition while electrostatic fields located between magnetic lenses are utilized to cause transverse separation of the particles into two beams separated by a sufficient amount to permit an aperture to block one beam. (AEC)

The High EnergyDetector (HED) is one of the three detection units on board the Simbol-X detector spacecraft. It is placed below the Low EnergyDetector so as to collect focused photons in the energy range from 8 to 80 keV. It consists of a mosaic of 64 independent cameras, divided in 8 sectors. Each elementary detection unit, called Caliste, is the hybridization of a 256-pixel Cadmium Telluride (CdTe) detector with full custom front-end electronics into a unique component. The status of the HED design will be reported. The promising results obtained from the first micro-camera prototypes called Caliste 64 and Caliste 256 will be presented to illustrate the expected performance of the instrument.

The High EnergyDetector (HED) is one of the three detection units on board the Simbol-X detector spacecraft. It is placed below the Low EnergyDetector so as to collect focused photons in the energy range from 8 to 80 keV. It consists of a mosaic of 64 independent cameras, divided in 8 sectors. Each elementary detection unit, called Caliste, is the hybridization of a 256-pixel Cadmium Telluride (CdTe) detector with full custom front-end electronics into a unique component. The status of the HED design will be reported. The promising results obtained from the first micro-camera prototypes called Caliste 64 and Caliste 256 will be presented to illustrate the expected performance of the instrument.

Version 00 GRPANL (GRouP ANaLysis) is a suite of programs which analyzes and interprets regions of germanium and alpha-particledetector pulse-height spectra. GRPANL is the main peak-fitting program; the other programs included are used in conjunction with GRPANL. GRPANL is particularly useful for accurately deconvoluting and interpreting complex clusters of peaks in a spectrum. GRPANL fits peaks in specified regions of a gamma-ray, x-ray, or alpha-particle spectrum, calculates their energies and intensities, and optionally calculatesmore » the photon emission rates for the sample from which they were emitted. It can also identify and measure isotopes in a sample. GRPANL output can be immediately analyzed for quantitative isotopic assays or stored in an intermediate data file. The other programs are EDIGRP, LIBRY, and GEVAL. EDISRP (EDIt GRouP) creates and edits an analysis control file that contains input parameters and analysis options for spectral regions analyzed by GRPANL; users can repeat or modify an analysis without retyping input. LIBRY (LIBRarY) assembles and cross references selected nuclear decay scheme data and stores it in decay scheme data files for use by GRPANL and GEVAL. GEVAL (Gamma ray EVALuation) uses these data files along with GRPANL intermediate results to identify isotopes, calculate their abundance in a sample, and print the corresponding disintegration rates and abundances at counting and zero times.« less

Elementary particledetectors fall broadly into only two classes: phase-transformation devices, such as the bubble chamber, and charge-transfer devices like the Geiger-Müller tube. Quantum measurements are seen to involve transitions from a long-lived metastable state (e.g., superheated liquid or a gas of atoms between charged capacitor plates) to a thermodynamically stable condition. A detector is then a specially prepared object undergoing a metastable-to-stable transformation that is significantly enhanced by the presence of the measured particle, which behaves, in some sense, as the seed of a process of heterogeneous nucleation. Based on this understanding of the operation of a conventional detector, and using results of orthogonality-catastrophe theory, we argue that, in the thermodynamic limit, the pre-measurement Hamiltonian is not the same as that describing the detector during or after the interaction with a particle and, thus, that superpositions of pointer states (Schrödinger’s cats) are unphysical because their time evolution is ill defined. Examples of particle-induced changes in the Hamiltonian are also given for ordinary systems whose macroscopic parameters are susceptible to radiation damage, but are not modified by the interaction with a single particle.

Initial measurements from the ULECA sensor of the Max-Planck-Institut/University of Maryland experiment on ISEE 1 are reported. ULECA is an electrostatic deflection - total energy sensor consisting of a collimator, a deflection analyzer, and an array of solid-state detectors. The position of a given detector, which determines the energy per charge of an incident particle, together with the measured energy, determines the particle's charge state. It is found that a rich variety of phenomena are operative in the transthermal energy regime (about 10 keV/Q to 100 keV/Q) covered by ULECA. Specifically, observations are presented of locally accelerated protons, alpha particles, and heavier ions in the magnetosheath and upstream of earth's bow shock. Preliminary analysis indicates that the behavior of these locally accelerated particles is most similar at the same energy per charge.

The Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) started its 253-day cruise to Mars on November 26, 2011. During cruise the Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD), situated on board the Curiosity rover, conducted measurements of the energetic-particle radiation environment inside the spacecraft. This environment consists mainly of galactic cosmic rays (GCRs), as well as secondary particles created by interactions of these GCRs with the spacecraft. The RAD measurements can serve as a proxy for the radiation environment a human crew would encounter during a transit to Mars, for a given part of the solar cycle, assuming that a crewed vehicle would have comparable shielding. The measurements of radiological quantities made by RAD are important in themselves, and, the same data set allow for detailed analysis of GCR-induced particle spectra inside the spacecraft. This provides important inputs for the evaluation of current transport models used to model the free-space (and spacecraft) radiation environment for different spacecraft shielding and different times in the solar cycle. Changes in these conditions can lead to significantly different radiation fields and, thus, potential health risks, emphasizing the need for validated transport codes. Here, we present the first measurements of charged particle fluxes inside a spacecraft during the transit from Earth to Mars. Using data obtained during the last two month of the cruise to Mars (June 11-July 14, 2012), we have derived detailed energy spectra for low-Z particles stopping in the instrument's detectors, as well as integral fluxes for penetrating particles with higher energies. Furthermore, we analyze the temporal changes in measured proton fluxes during quiet solar periods (i.e., when no solar energetic particle events occurred) over the duration of the transit (December 9, 2011-July 14, 2012) and correlate them with changing heliospheric conditions.

To discover and probe the properties of new particles, we need to collide highly energetic particles. The Tevatron at Fermilab has collided protons and anti-protons at very high energies. These collisions produce short lived and stable particles, some known and some previously unknown. The CDF detector is used to study the products of such collisions and discover new elementary particles. To study the interaction between high energy charged particles and the detector materials often requires development of new instruments. Thus this dissertation involves a measurement at a contemporary experiment and development of technologies for related future experiments that will build on the contemporary one.

Dual Energy imaging is a promising method for visualizing masses and microcalcifications in digital mammography. The advent of two X-ray energies (low and high) requires a suitable detector. The scope of this work is to determine optimum detector parameters for dual energy applications. The detector was modeled through the linear cascaded (LCS) theory. It was assumed that a phosphor material was coupled to a CMOS photodetector (indirect detection). The pixel size was 22.5 μm. The phosphor thickness was allowed to vary between 20mg/cm2 and 160mg/cm2 The phosphor materials examined where Gd2O2S:Tb and Gd2O2S:Eu. Two Tungsten (W) anode X-ray spectra at 35 kV (filtered with 100 μm Palladium (Pd)) and 70 kV (filtered with 800 pm Ytterbium (Yb)), corresponding to low and high energy respectively, were considered to be incident on the detector. For each combination the contrast- to-noise ratio (CNR) and the detector optical gain (DOG), showing the sensitivity of the detector, were calculated. The 40 mg/cm2 and 70 mg/cm2 Gd2O2S:Tb exhibited the higher DOG values for the low and high energy correspondingly. Higher CNR between microcalcification and mammary gland exhibited the 70mg/cm2 and the 100mg/cm2 Gd2O2S:Tb for the low and the high energy correspondingly.

A particle-extracting apparatus for use with a beam of high-energy charged particles such as travel in an evacuated chamber along a circular equilibrium axis is described. A magnetized target is impacted relatively against the beam whereby the beam particles are deflected from the beam by the magnetic induction in the target. To this end the target may be moved into the beam or the beam may coast into the target and achieve high angular particle deflection and slow extraction. A deflecting septum magnet may additionally be used for deflection at even sharper angles. (AEC)

We report on our efforts toward the development of silicon (Si) strip detectors for energy-resolved clinical breast imaging. Typically, x-ray integrating detectors based on scintillating cesium iodide CsI(Tl) or amorphous selenium (a- Se) are used in most commercial systems. Recently, mammography instrumentation has been introduced based on photon counting silicon Si strip detectors. Mammography requires high flux from the x-ray generator, therefore, in order to achieve energy resolved single photon counting, a high output count rate (OCR) for the detector must be achieved at the required spatial resolution and across the required dynamic range for the application. The required performance in terms of the OCR, spatial resolution, and dynamic range must be obtained with sufficient field of view (FOV) for the application thus requiring the tiling of pixel arrays and scanning techniques. Room temperature semiconductors, operating as direct conversion x-ray sensors, can provide the required speed when connected to application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) operating at fast peaking times with multiple fixed thresholds per pixel, provided that the sensors are designed for rapid signal formation across the x-ray energy ranges of the application at the required energy and spatial resolutions. We present our methods and results from the optimization of prototype detectors based on Si strip structures. We describe the detector optimization and the development of ASIC readout electronics that provide the required spatial resolution, low noise, high count rate capabilities and minimal power consumption.

We analyze the constraints that causality imposes on some of the particledetector models employed in quantum field theory in general and, in particular, on those used in quantum optics (or superconducting circuits) to model atoms interacting with light. Namely, we show that disallowing faster-than-light communication can impose severe constraints on the applicability of particledetector models in three different common scenarios: (1) when the detectors are spatially smeared, (2) when a UV cutoff is introduced in the theory and (3) under one of the most typical approximations made in quantum optics: the rotating-wave approximation. We identify the scenarios in which the models' causal behavior can and cannot be cured.

The ALICE High Momentum Particle Identification Detector (HMPID) is a proximity focusing ring imaging Cherenkov detector (RICH), 10 m2 of active area for the hadron identification at high transverse momenta: 1 < pt < 3 GeV/c for charged π and K, 1 < pt < 5 GeV/c for p. It has been installed in ALICE since September 2006 in view of the first collisions expected mid-2008. After a short description of the detector and the online data quality monitoring this paper focuses on the HMPID particle identification (PID) capabilities even in the higher expected track multiplicity dNch/dη = 6000, simulated in central Pb-Pb ALICE events.

Summary of the properties of some of the detectors that are commonly used in counter experiments to localize charged particles, and which are based on discharge in gases under the influence of electric fields and some basic facts of gaseous amplification in homogeneous and inhomogeneous fields.

Dr. Beverly Cohen and her colleagues at New York University School of Medicine will test the performance of iron nanofilms to collect and measure sulfuric acid particles of different sizes under a variety of temperature and humidity conditions. The iron nanofilm detector is...

Hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) is highly promising for solid-state thermal neutron detector applications due to its many outstanding physical properties, especially its very large thermal neutron capture cross-section (~3840 barns for 10B), which is several orders of magnitude larger than those of most other isotopes. The focus of the present work is to carry out studies on h-BN thin film and detector properties to lay the foundation for the development of a direct-conversion solid-state thermal neutron detector with high sensitivity. The measured carrier mobility-lifetime (μτ) product of h-BN thin films grown on sapphire substrates is 2.83×10-7 cm2/V for electrons and holes, which is comparable to the value of about 10-7 cm2/V for GaN thin films grown on sapphire. Detectors based on h-BN thin films were fabricated and the nuclear reaction product pulse height spectra were measured. Under a bias of 20 V, very narrow individual peaks corresponding to the reaction product energies of α and Li particles as well as the sum peaks have been clearly resolved in the pulse height spectrum for the first time by a B-based direct-conversion semiconductor neutron detector. Our results indicate that h-BN thin film detectors possess unique advantages including small size, low weight, portability, low voltage operation and high energy resolution of specific reaction products.

The idea of production of ultrahigh-energyparticles in the present universe due to annihilation or collapse of topological defects is discussed. Topological defects, formed in symmetry-breaking phase transitions in the early universe, can survive till today owing to their topological stability. However, under certain circumstances, topological defects may be physically destroyed. When topological defects are destroyed, the energy contained in the defects can be released in the form of massive gauge- and Higgs bosons of the underlying spontaneously broken gauge theory. Subsequent decay of these massive particles can give rise to energetic particles ranging up to an energy on the order of the mass of the original particles released from the defects. This may give us a natural'' mechanism of production of extremely energetic cosmic ray particles in the universe today, without the need for any acceleration mechanism. To illustrate this idea, I describe in detail the calculation of the expected ultrahigh-energy proton spectrum due to a specific process which involves collapse or multiple self-intersections of a class of closed cosmic string loops formed in a phase transition at a grand unification energy scale. I discuss the possibility that some of the highest-energy cosmic ray particles are of this origin. By comparing with the observational results on the ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays, we derive an upper limit to the average fraction of the total energy in all primary'' cosmic string loops that may be released in the form of particles due to collapse or multiple self-intersections of these loops. No nuclei such as {alpha}'s or Fe's are in the spectrum. 43 refs., 3 figs.

Two natural diamond detectors have been installed on the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX) to look at escaping neutrals at or near the neutral-beam-injection energy. Time-resolved measurements have been obtained from these detectors at various tangency radii. The close proximity of the detector to the vessel required the development of a very fast low-noise preamplifier, which has been shown to be superior to similar commercial units. With this amplifier arrangement, electromagnetic pick-up noise was reduced to acceptable levels. However, radiation shielding was required to reduce the background levels from neutron-induced pulses in the detector. Calibration data along with the measured energy resolution is presented in the useful energy range of NSTX. Example data from plasma discharges will also be presented.

In the energy domain 100 keV to 10 MeV, both crystal scintillations and semiconductors are widely used for gamma ray detectors in spectrometer systems. These detectors' operation depend on the fact that gamma rays lose energy by ionization in these materials and electrons and holes are produced. In the case of semiconductors, these electrons and holes are collected by an electric field, and they provide an electric signal that is a direct measure of the energy lost by the gamma ray in the material. Scintillation detectors depend on a further conversion of the energy lost in electron hole pair production to the production of photons. A photomultiplier tube measures the intensity of the photon flux, and an electrical pulse proportional to the photon intensity is produced at the photomultiplier output.

Energy resolved imaging has been possible with a newest generation of radiation detectors with photon counting and spectroscopic capabilities. This innovation gives the possibility to enhance the image quality by applying techniques using the energy information. In this work two X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) Systems were assembled with two different energy resolving detectors: Medipix2 and MicroHole &amp Strip Plate (MHSP). These detectors have the aforesaid characteristics and showed a good performance for X-ray imaging. The Energy Weighting Technique (EWT) and Basis Material Decomposition (BMD) techniques were applied with good results. An improvement of 31% in the CNR was achieved by applying the EWT in the MHSP data and, using Medipix2, two basis materials (Carbon based and Aluminium) were decomposed successfully with densities close to the real values.

An apparatus, method, and system relating to radiation detection of low-energy beta particles are disclosed. An embodiment includes a radiation detector with a first scintillator and a second scintillator operably coupled to each other. The first scintillator and the second scintillator are each structured to generate a light pulse responsive to interaction with beta particles. The first scintillator is structured to experience full energy deposition of low-energy beta particles, and permit a higher-energy beta particle to pass therethrough and interact with the second scintillator. The radiation detector further includes a light-to-electrical converter operably coupled to the second scintillator and configured to convert light pulses generated by the first scintillator and the second scintillator into electrical signals. The first scintillator and the second scintillator have at least one mutually different characteristic to enable an electronic system to determine whether a given light pulse is generated in the first scintillator or the second scintillator.

The highlights of seven sessions of the Conference dealing with high energy interactions of cosmic rays are discussed. High energy cross section measurements; particle production-models of experiments; nuclei and nuclear matter; nucleus-nucleus collision; searches for magnetic monopoles; and studies of nucleon decay are covered.

The fiber optic technology has been used to build a transmitter-receiver system capable of delivering channeltron or PM tube signals through a few hundred meter span. The intrinsic immunity of optical fibers to e.m. noise has been used to reduce noise problems in an experimental apparatus equipped with two electrostatic analyzers for coincidence (e, 2e) spectroscopy. A coincidence energy separation spectrum of He, used for calibration of the apparatus energy scale, has been measured using fiber optic links instead of coaxial cables. The system was completely built using cheap and easily available commercial components. The results show that fiber optic links could become a viable technique for noise reduction, high voltage decoupling and low temperature calorimeters signal transfer.

We present massively parallel high energy electromagnetic particle transportation through a finely segmented detector on a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU). Simulating events of energetic particle decay in a general-purpose high energy physics (HEP) detector requires intensive computing resources, due to the complexity of the geometry as well as physics processes applied to particles copiously produced by primary collisions and secondary interactions. The recent advent of hardware architectures of many-core or accelerated processors provides the variety of concurrent programming models applicable not only for the high performance parallel computing, but also for the conventional computing intensive application such as the HEP detector simulation. The components of our prototype are a transportation process under a non-uniform magnetic field, geometry navigation with a set of solid shapes and materials, electromagnetic physics processes for electrons and photons, and an interface to a framework that dispatches bundles of tracks in a highly vectorized manner optimizing for spatial locality and throughput. Core algorithms and methods are excerpted from the Geant4 toolkit, and are modified and optimized for the GPU application. Program kernels written in C/C++ are designed to be compatible with CUDA and OpenCL and with the aim to be generic enough for easy porting to future programming models and hardware architectures. To improve throughput by overlapping data transfers with kernel execution, multiple CUDA streams are used. Issues with floating point accuracy, random numbers generation, data structure, kernel divergences and register spills are also considered. Performance evaluation for the relative speedup compared to the corresponding sequential execution on CPU is presented as well.

One of the models of dark energy is the ghost dark energy, which has a geometrical origin. Recently, a certain type of phenomenological modification of ghost dark energy has been suggested which motivated us for this work. The goal of this paper is twofold. First, we would like to study the cosmological scenario involving interacting varying ghost dark energy. A cosmographic analysis of a non-interacting model is also performed. Then, we study the particle creation following the straight analogy between quantization in Minkowski background and canonical quantization of a scalar field in curved dynamical backgrounds. Particular attention will be paid to massless-particle production from a radiation-dominated universe (according to our toy model) which evolves to our large-scale universe. Constraints on the parameters of the models obtained during the cosmographic analysis did allow to demonstrate the possibility of a massless-particle creation in a radiation-dominated universe.

The ability to detect viable organisms in air in real time is important in a number of applications. Detecting high levels of airborne organisms in hospitals can prevent post-operative infections and the spread of diseases. Monitoring levels of airborne viable organisms in pharmaceutical facilities can ensure safe production of drugs or vaccines. Monitoring airborne bacterial levels in meat processing plants can help to prevent contamination of food products. Monitoring the level of airborne organisms in bio-containment facilities can ensure that proper procedures are being followed. Finally, detecting viable organisms in real time is a key to defending against biological agent attacks. This presentation describes the development and performance of a detector, based on fluorescence particle counting technology, where an ultraviolet laser is used to count particles by light scattering and elicit fluorescence from specific biomolecules found only in living organisms. The resulting detector can specifically detect airborne particles containing living organisms from among the large majority of other particles normally present in air. Efforts to develop the core sensor technology, focusing on integrating an UV laser with a specially designed particle-counting cell will be highlighted. The hardware/software used to capture the information from the sensor, provide an alarm in the presence of an unusual biological aerosol content will also be described. Finally, results from experiments to test the performance of the detector will be presented.

The relative thermoluminescence efficiency, η, is in general not constant but depends on ionisation density. Evaluation of the η is therefore important especially for correct interpretation of measurements of densely ionising radiation doses in proton radiotherapy or in space dosimetry. The correct determination of the η is not always straightforward especially when more strongly ionising radiation is to be measured. In the present work, the process of calculation of the η based on two kinds of heavy charged particles was studied. Several factors which may influence the value of the η and their significance for the final result were discussed. These include for example non-uniform deposition of the dose within the detector volume, self-attenuation of thermoluminescent light, choice of the reference radiation, etc. The presented approach was applied to the experimental results of η of LiF:Mg,Ti detectors irradiated with two kinds of heavy charged particles, protons and alpha particles. PMID:25656042

We introduce the concept of a new rocket borne detector for the measurement of nanometer-scale meteoric dust particles. Since the particles are too small to be optically observed and too large for common mass spectrometers we intend to charge these particles by irradiation with UV light from a Xenon-flashlamp and then detect them with a sensitive electrometer. In order to shield the electrometer from ambient electrons and positive ions we further apply strong permanent magnets (field strength ~1 T) which lead to a deflection of these light charge carriers due to the Lorentz-force. We present first experimental results obtained with a prototype of this detector in the laboratory and discuss future perspectives.

Neutrinos are elementary particles that carry no electric charge and have little mass. As they interact only weakly with other particles, they can penetrate enormous amounts of matter, and therefore have the potential to directly convey astrophysical information from the edge of the Universe and from deep inside the most cataclysmic high-energy regions. The neutrino's great penetrating power, however, also makes this particle difficult to detect. Underground detectors have observed low-energy neutrinos from the Sun and a nearby supernova, as well as neutrinos generated in the Earth's atmosphere. But the very low fluxes of high-energy neutrinos from cosmic sources can be observed only by much larger, expandable detectors in, for example, deep water or ice. Here we report the detection of upwardly propagating atmospheric neutrinos by the ice-based Antarctic muon and neutrino detector array (AMANDA). These results establish a technology with which to build a kilometre-scale neutrino observatory necessary for astrophysical observations. PMID:11260705

Two-dimensional arrays of solid state detectors have long been used in visible and infrared systems. Hybrid arrays with separately optimized detector and readout substrates have been extensively developed for infrared sensors. The characteristics and use of these infrared readout chips with silicon PIN diode arrays produced by MICRON SEMICONDUCTOR for detecting high-energyparticles are reported. Some of these arrays have been produced in formats as large as 512 /times/ 512 pixels; others have been radiation hardened to total dose levels beyond 1 Mrad. Data generation rates of 380 megasamples/second have been achieved. Analog and digital signal transmission and processing techniques have also been developed to accept and reduce these high data rates. 9 refs., 15 figs., 2 tabs.

Identification of charged particles in a multilayer detector by the energy loss technique may also be achieved by the use of a neural network. The performance of the network becomes worse when a large fraction of information is missing, for instance due to detector inefficiencies. Algorithms which provide a way to impute missing information have been developed over the past years. Among the various approaches, we focused on normal mixtures' models in comparison with standard mean imputation and multiple imputation methods. Further, to account for the intrinsic asymmetry of the energy loss data, we considered skew-normal mixture models and provided a closed form implementation in the Expectation-Maximization (EM) algorithm framework to handle missing patterns. The method has been applied to a test case where the energy losses of pions, kaons and protons in a six-layers' Silicon detector are considered as input neurons to a neural network. Results are given in terms of reconstruction efficiency and purity of the various species in different momentum bins.

We construct the detection rate for particledetectors moving along non-inertial trajectories and interacting with quantum fields. The detectors described here are characterized by the presence of records of observation throughout their history, so that the detection rate corresponds to directly measurable quantities. This is in contrast to past treatments of detectors, which actually refer to probes, i.e., microscopic systems from which we extract information only after their interaction has been completed. Our treatment incorporates the irreversibility due to the creation of macroscopic records of observation. The key result is a real-time description of particle detection and a rigorously defined time-local probability density function (PDF). The PDF depends on the scale of the temporal coarse-graining that is necessary for the formation of a macroscopic record. The evaluation of the PDF for Unruh-DeWitt detectors along different types of trajectory shows that only paths with at least one characteristic time-scale much smaller than lead to appreciable particle detection. Our approach allows for averaging over fast motions and thus predicts a constant detection rate for all fast periodic motions.

There has been recent interest in applying radio emission of ultra-high energy neutrinos interacting in the ice of Europa. The idea was first described by Gorham (2004)[1] in the context of ultra-high energyparticle detection. Shoji, Kurita, and Tanaka (2011)[2] proposed a technique for measuring ice depth using the radio intensity distribution of radio impulses emitted by interactions deep in the Europan ice. Miller, Schaefer, and Sequeira (2012)[3] follow up this study with a simulation of a radio detector mission to constrain the ice depth of Europa. The radio signal results from an effect proposed by Askar'yan (1962)[4] where the particle shower induced by the neutrino interaction accumulates a charge excess traveling faster than the speed of light in the medium and produces a coherent Cherenkov pulse at radio frequencies. We evaluate the feasibility of such a mission given the current state of knowledge of ultra-high energyparticle detection and radio pulse production. References [1] Gorham (2004), Planet-sized Detectors for Ultra-high Energy Neutrinos & Cosmic Rays, NASA Advanced Planning Office's Capability Roadmap Public Workshop, Nov. 30, 2004, astro-ph/0411510 [2] Shoji, Kurita, and Tanaka (2011), Constraint of Europan ice thickness by measuring electromagnetic emissions induced by neutrino interaction, Geophysical Research Letters, 38, L08202 [3] Miller, Shaefer, Sequeira, PRIDE (Passive Radio [frequency] Ice Depth Experiment): An instrument to passively measure ice depth from a Europan orbiter using neutrinos, Icarus 220 877-888 [4] Askar'yan (1962), Excess negative charge of an electron photon shower and its coherent radiation originating from it. Radio recording of showers under the ground and on the Moon, Sov. Phys. JETP, 14, 441-443.

Electrons and ions, over a wide range of energies, are produced in association with solar flares. Solar energetic particles (SEPs), observed in space and near earth, consist of electrons and ions that range in energy from 10 keV to about 100 MeV and from 1 MeV to 20 GeV, respectively. SEPs are directly recorded by charged particledetectors, while X-ray, gamma-ray, and neutron detectors indicate the properties of the accelerated particles (electrons and ions) which have interacted in the solar atmosphere. A major problem of solar physics is to understand the relationship between these two groups of charged particles; in particular whether they are accelerated by the same mechanism. The paper reviews the physics of gamma-rays and neutron production in the solar atmosphere and the method by which properties of the primary charged particles produced in the solar flare can be deduced. Recent observations of energetic photons and neutrons in space and at the earth are used to present a current picture of the properties of impulsively flare accelerated electrons and ions. Some important properties discussed are time scale of production, composition, energy spectra, accelerator geometry. Particular attention is given to energetic particle production in the large flare on June 3, 1982.

The SuperKEKB e+e- collider will provide 40 times higher instantaneous luminosity than the KEKB collider. The Belle II detector, located at the collision point, is the upgrade of the Belle detector. The particle identification will be improved by replacing the aerogel threshold counter with two new high performance Cherenkov detectors: the time-of-propagation (TOP) in the barrel region and the focusing aerogel (ARICH) in the forward region. The time-of-propagation sub-detector consists of quartz radiator bars and micro-channel plate photomultiplier tubes. The Cherenkov photons are produced and propagated through the quartz radiator, and after multiple internal reflections they are detected by the photomultiplier tubes. Photons with different Cherenkov angles reach different photomultiplier channels and arrive at different times. The time and the position convolution is used for the reconstruction of the Cherenkov angle. The focusing aerogel consists of a double layer aerogel radiator, an expansion volume and a photon detector. The aerogel thickness and the refractive indices of the two layers are optimized to focus the two light cones at the detection surface. The key features of these two detectors, the performance studies, and the construction progress are presented.

The GlueX experiment is a new experiment under construction at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility designed to study gluonic degrees of freedom via the production of ``hybrid'' mesons with exotic quantum numbers. At full luminosity, the trigger rate is expected to be on the order of 150 kHz and the data rate to tape is expected to be on the order of 300 MB/s. In order to reduce the reconstruction time, the current GlueX analysis framework is multi-threaded such that multiple events can be analyzed in parallel on multi-core machines. The tracking code presents the largest bottleneck in the event reconstruction. By taking advantage of Single-Instruction, Multiple-Data (SIMD) instructions in the three-vector and matrix operations needed in the tracking code, the reconstruction can be sped up considerably. The current status of the tracking reconstruction for GlueX will be presented. This work was supported by the US Department of Energy contract DE-AC05-06OR23177, under which Jefferson Science Associates, LLC operates Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility.

Time-of Flight (TOF) detectors allow one to identify particles created in collider experiments. The Pioneering High Energy Nuclear Interaction eXperiment (PHENIX) at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider at Brookhaven National Laboratory is proposing new forward timing detectors to measure the TOF with a 10 picosecond (ps) timing resolution. A prototype of the detector electronics system was tested by using Cherenkov signals from cosmic rays and translating them into digital signals. Each signal was split and delivered to two analog-to-digital-converters (ADCs). C++ and ROOT were used to write programs to compare voltage readings reported by the two ADC channels and determine the time difference between them, which was 76 ps. Using new ADCs, which run 17 times faster, the timing resolution will be 5 ps. This will allow PHENIX to probe the meson-baryon anomaly at intermediate, transverse momentum by making detailed measurements in a psuedorapidity region which has not been well measured.

The various subdisciplines of high-energy astrophysics are surveyed in a series of articles which attempt to give an overall view of the subject as a whole by emphasizing the basic physics common to all fields in which high-energyparticles and quanta play a role. Successive chapters cover cosmic ray experimental observations, the abundances of nuclei in the cosmic radiation, cosmic electrons, solar modulation, solar particles (observation, relationship to the sun acceleration, interplanetary medium), radio astronomy, galactic X-ray sources, the cosmic X-ray background, and gamma ray astronomy. Individual items are announced in this issue.

Laser active suppressing jamming is one of the most important technologies in the domain of electro-optical countermeasures. The propagation direction of laser is not always in the same line with the principal axis of electro-optical imaging system, so it is necessary to investigate laser energy distribution on detector under the different incident angle. This paper toke optical system with wide field of view for example. We firstly analyzed the system's structure based on the inverting prism and evaluated image quality. Laser energy distribution caused by diffraction effect of optical system was secondly simulated based on Kirchhoff 's diffraction theory. Thirdly, we built the system's analysis model of stray light, traced a large number of light propagation, and obtained laser energy distribution on detector caused by scattering effect. At last, combine the above two kinds of energy distribution into total laser energy distribution on detector. According to the detector's saturated threshold, we can count up the saturated number and evaluate laser disturbing effect. The research results can provide theoretical reference and technical support for evaluating laser disturbing effect of electro-optical imaging system.

The job of energy calibration was broken into three parts: gain normalization of all equivalent elements; determination of the functions for conversion of pulse height to energy; and gain stabilization. It is found that calorimeter experiments are no better than their calibration systems - calibration errors will be the major source of error at high energies. Redundance is found to be necessary - the system should be designed such that every element could be replaced during the life of the experiment. It is found to be important to have enough data taken during calibration runs and during the experiment to be able to sort out where the calibration problems were after the experiment is over. Each layer was normalized independently with electrons, and then the pulse height to energy conversion was determined with photons. The primary method of gain stabilization used the light flasher system. (LEW)

Cognitive radio systems offer the opportunity to improve the spectrum utilization by detecting unused frequency bands while avoiding interference to primary users. This paper proposes a new algorithm for spectrum sensing, which is an energydetector using a hybrid (adaptive and fixed) threshold, in order to compensate the weak points of the existing energydetector in the distorted communication channel environment. Simulation results are presented which show that the performance of the new proposed scheme is better than the existing scheme using a fixed threshold or an adaptive threshold. Additionally, the performance is investigated in terms of several parameters such as the mobile speed and the probability of false alarms. The simulation results also show that the proposed algorithm makes the detector highly robust against fading, shadowing, and interference.

We have exposed stacks of CR-39 plastic nuclear track detectors inside the MIR space craft during the EUROMIR95 space mission for almost 6 months. Over this long period a large number of tracks of high LET events was accumulated in the detector foils. The etching and measuring conditions for this experiment were optimized to detect tracks of stopping iron nuclei. We found 185 stopping iron nuclei inside the stack and identified their trajectories through the material of the experiment. Based on the energy-range relation the energy at the surface of the stack was determined. These particles allow the determination of the low energy part of the spectrum of iron nuclei behind shielding material inside the MIR station. PMID:12025843

In this paper we present a method for the measurement of alpha particleenergy using polycarbonate materials as nuclear track detectors (NTDs). This method is based on the interaction of the radiation with the solid-state materials, using the relationship between the energy deposited in the material by the ionising particle and the track developed after an established chemical process. The determination of the geometrical parameters of the formed track, such as major axis, minor axis and overall track length, permit determination of the energy of the alpha particle. The track analysis is performed automatically using a digital image system, and the data are processed in a PC with commercial software. In this experiment 148Gd, 238U, 230Th, 239Pu and 244Cm alpha particle emitters were used. The values for alpha particleenergy resolution, the linear response to energy, the confidence in the results and the automatisation of the procedure make this method a promising analysis system. PMID:12382812

Quantitative studies of radiation damage in high-purity germanium gamma-ray detectors due to high-energy charged particles have been carried out; two 1.0 cm thick planar detectors were irradiated by 6 GeV/c protons. Under proton bombardment, degradation in the energy resolution was found to begin below 7 x 10 to the 7th protons/sq cm and increased proportionately in both detectors until the experiment was terminated at a total flux of 5.7 x 10 to the 8th protons/sq cm, equivalent to about a six year exposure to cosmic-ray protons in space. At the end of the irradiation, the FWHM resolution measured at 1332 keV stood at 8.5 and 13.6 keV, with both detectors of only marginal utility as a spectrometer due to the severe tailing caused by charge trapping. Annealing these detectors after proton damage was found to be much easier than after neutron damage.

Gamma rays with energies up to 21 MeV were measured with Ge detectors. Such {gamma} rays were produced in the 208Pb(p,{gamma})209Bi reaction. The position of the 2g9/2 single proton orbit in 209Bi has been determined indicating the size of the Z=126 shell gap.

A systematic analysis of the response of dichlorodifluoromethane superheated drop detectors was performed in the 46-133 MeV energy range. Experiments with quasi-monoenergetic neutron beams were performed at the Université Catholique de Leuvain-la-Neuve, Belgium and the Svedberg Laboratory, Sweden, while tests in a broad field were performed at CERN. To determine the response of the detectors to the high-energy beams, the spectra of incident neutrons were folded over functions modelled after the cross sections for the production of heavy ions from the detector elements. The cross sections for fluorine and chlorine were produced in this work by means of the Monte Carlo high-energy transport code HADRON based on the cascade exciton model of nuclear interactions. The new response data permit the interpretation of measurements at high-energy accelerators and on high-altitude commercial flights, where a 30-50% under-response had been consistently recorded with respect to neutron dose equivalent. The introduction of a 1 cm lead shell around the detectors effectively compensates most of the response defect. PMID:12382936

We present a measurement of two-particle angular correlations in proton- proton collisions at √{s} = 900 GeV and 7 TeV. The collision events were collected during 2009 and 2010 with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider using a single-arm minimum bias trigger. Correlations are measured for charged particles produced in the kinematic range of transverse momentum p T > 100 MeV and pseudorapidity | η| < 2.5. A complex structure in pseudorapidity and azimuth is observed at both collision energies. Results are compared to pythia 8 and herwig++ as well as to the AMBT2B, DW and Perugia 2011 tunes of pythia 6. The data are not satisfactorily described by any of these models.

We describe the design and performance of a detector system for tracking charged particles in an environment of high track density and rates up to 1 MHz. The system operates in the forward spectrometer of the BNL Heavy Ion experiment E814 and uses principles of general interest in high rate, high multiplicity applications such as at RHIC or SSC. We require our system to perform over a large dynamic range, detecting singly charged particles as well as fully ionized relativistic {sup 28}Si. Results on gas gain saturation, {delta}-ray suppression, and overall detector performance in the presence of a 14.6 GeV/nucleon {sup 28}Si beam and a 14 GeV proton beam are presented. 6 refs., 9 figs.

The on-going research and the development projects with Large Hadron Collider at CERN, Geneva, Switzerland has generated enormous enthusiasm and interest amongst all to know about the ultimate findings on `God's Particle'. This paper has made an attempt to unfold the power supply requirements and the methodology adopted to provide the stringent demand of such high energyparticle accelerators during the initial stages of the search for the ultimate particles. An attempt has also been made to highlight the present status on the requirement of power supplies in some high energy accelerators with a view that, precautionary measures can be drawn during design and development from earlier experience which will be of help for the proposed third generation synchrotron to be installed in India at a huge cost.

The on-going research and the development projects with Large Hadron Collider at CERN, Geneva, Switzerland has generated enormous enthusiasm and interest amongst all to know about the ultimate findings on `God's Particle'. This paper has made an attempt to unfold the power supply requirements and the methodology adopted to provide the stringent demand of such high energyparticle accelerators during the initial stages of the search for the ultimate particles. An attempt has also been made to highlight the present status on the requirement of power supplies in some high energy accelerators with a view that, precautionary measures can be drawn during design and development from earlier experience which will be of help for the proposed third generation synchrotron to be installed in India at a huge cost.

Neutrino detectors at the accelerator machines of the Intensity Frontier in particle physics are becoming commonplace. As their capabilities are being understood, they seem to have the potential for studies beyond the neutrino oscillations measurements. Besides these primary neutrino physics goals, a number of exotic searches can be done with such detectors in general, and the NOvA detectors that we present here, as a particular example. Specifically, we focus on simulating signatures in NOvA experiment's Near-Detector (300 ton, 900 m from the NuMI target of Fermilab) that correspond to beam-generated new physics states from hidden sectors, dark sectors, axion-like particles, heavy or sterile neutrinos, and heavy photons. As there are no physics generators that can inherently include such states, along with the mainstream production branches, we present here the initial stages of an effort to incorporate these signatures manually in the overall simulation framework of the NOvA experiment. For this, we discuss examples and examine the potential and challenges for detecting such signatures.

The Virtual Detector for Synchrotron Radiation (VDSR) is a parallel C++ code developed to calculate the incoherent radiation from a single charged particle or a beam moving in given external electro-magnetic fields. In this proceedings the code structure and features are introduced. An example of radiation generation from the betatron motion of a beam in the focusing fields of the wake in a laser-plasma accelerator is presented.

STARTRACK is a track nanodosimetry experiment the installation of which is in progress by the Legnaro Laboratories. The experiment aims to measure the ionisation cluster distributions occurring in a nanometric site placed at a given distance from single charged particle track. Therefore, the accuracy of STARTRACK experimental data depends on the possibility of rejecting with high efficiency ionisation events due to more than 1 primary particle. To accomplish this task, an efficient particle detection system made of a trigger and a rejector is necessary. As the simulation of nanometric sites is performed working at very low gas pressure (a few mbar), the trigger and the rejector operate at the same low gas pressure. In order to see if a Leak Microstructure (LM) detector can be used as rejector as well as trigger of STARTRACK, α particle detection measurements have been performed at low gas pressure (2-3 mbar) of propane. Experimental data shows that the LM detector works in proportional mode down to 2 mbar of propane with high gas gain. The gas gain is high enough to allow for measuring single electron events due to the passage of low-ionising charged particles.

The apparatus and method provide techniques through which both alpha and beta emission determinations can be made simultaneously using a simple detector structure. The technique uses a beta detector covered in an electrically conducting material, the electrically conducting material discharging ions generated by alpha emissions, and as a consequence providing a measure of those alpha emissions. The technique also offers improved mountings for alpha detectors and other forms of detectors against vibration and the consequential effects vibration has on measurement accuracy.

Some perspective of the main issues in high energy nuclear collision physics is offered. How to identify and measure a quark-gluon plasma is considered to still be an open question. The types of detector configurations to be used in high-energy nucleus-nucleus experiments are discussed. Particular issues covered are measurements of lepton pair spectra, tracking systems and multitrack resolution, event-rate capabilities, backgrounds and other problems close to the beam, and calorimetry. 2 refs. (LEW)

The Charged Particle Working Group (CPWG) is proposing to construct large area Silicon Strip Detector (SSD), a gas Time Projection Chamber detector read by an electronic readout system (eTPC) and a Bubble Chamber (BC) containing superheated high purity water to be used in measurements utilizing intense gamma-ray beams from the newly constructed ELI-NP facility at Magurele, Bucharest in Romania. We intend to use the SSD and eTPC detectors to address essential problems in nuclear structure physics, such as clustering and the many alpha-decay of light nuclei such as {sup 12}C and {sup 16}O. All three detectors (SSD, eTPC and BC) will be used to address central problems in nuclear astrophysics such as the astrophysical cross section factor of the {sup 12}C(α,γ) reaction and other processes central to stellar evolution. The CPWG intends to submit to the ELI-NP facility a Technical Design Report (TDR) for the proposed detectors.

The Charged Particle Working Group (CPWG) is proposing to construct large area Silicon Strip Detector (SSD), a gas Time Projection Chamber detector read by an electronic readout system (eTPC) and a Bubble Chamber (BC) containing superheated high purity water to be used in measurements utilizing intense gamma-ray beams from the newly constructed ELI-NP facility at Magurele, Bucharest in Romania. We intend to use the SSD and eTPC detectors to address essential problems in nuclear structure physics, such as clustering and the many alpha-decay of light nuclei such as 12C and 16O . All three detectors (SSD, eTPC and BC) will be used to address central problems in nuclear astrophysics such as the astrophysical cross section factor of the 12C (α,γ) reaction and other processes central to stellar evolution. The CPWG intends to submit to the ELI-NP facility a Technical Design Report (TDR) for the proposed detectors.

A progress report on simulations of low-energy e{sup +}e{sup {minus}} backgrounds from the beam-beam interaction at future linear colliders is given. Characteristics of the primary particles and detailed calculations of the backgrounds fron backscattering into the detector volume are presented.

Both the maximum size N sub m and the sea level muon size N sub mu have been used separately to find the all-particleenergy spectrum in the air shower domain. However the conversion required, whether from N sub m to E or from N sub mu to E, has customarily been carried out by means of calculations based on an assumed cascase model. It is shown here that by combining present data on N sub m and N sub mu spectra with data on: (1); the energy spectrum of air shower muons and (2) the average width of the electron profile, one can obtain empirical values of the N sub m to E and N sub mu to E conversion factors, and an empirical calorimetric all-particle spectrum, in the energy range 2 x 10 to the 6th power E 2 x 10 to the 9th power GeV.

Plastic and glass track detectors on rockets and Apollo spacecraft have been used to determine the composition of particles from He to Ni at energies from 0.1 to 50 MeV per nucleon in several solar flares of widely varying intensities. At low energies the composition of solar particles is enriched in heavy elements by an amount, relative to the asymptotic high-energy composition, that increases with atomic number from Z = 2 up to at least Z = 50, that decreases with energy, and that varies from flare to flare. At high energies (usually beyond an energy of 5 to 20 MeV per nucleon) the composition becomes independent of energy and, though somewhat variable from flare to flare, approximates the composition of the solar atmosphere. A table of abundances of the even-Z elements from He to Ni (plus N) in solar particles is constructed by averaging the asymptotic high-energy abundances in several flares.

A large aperture, balloon borne cosmic ray detector was designed to measure the energy spectra of individual cosmic ray species with Z greater than 8 in the energy range 0.3GeV/N to 400GeV/N. The energy dependence of the abundance spectrum extending up to such high energies will provide valuable data for determining the nature of the origin and propagation of cosmic rays in the Galaxy. The properties of cosmic ray nuclei and the interpretation of the energy dependence of the abundance spectrum are discussed. The design and response of the BUGS IV cosmic ray detector are described. The measurement techniques used are gas scintillation, gas proportional scintillation and Cerenkov radiation from both gases and solids. The light collection properties of the detector and several experimental investigations of the light collection efficiency of the drift chamber region are described. The expected signals from the gas scintillation and gas Cerenkov emissions are predicted and the choice of a suitable scintillating gas mixture for minimizing the uncertainty in the charge and energy measurements is considered. The theoretical aspects of electron drift and diffusion in gases and several experimental investigations on the electron drift in the BUGS IV drift chamber are given. Also some preliminary results from a uniform field drift chamber are included which demonstrate the sensitivity of the electron drift velocity in inert gas mixtures to water vapor contamination. The expected overall performance of BUGS IV and the results of an experimental simulation of the parachute landing of the detector are given.

This paper presents a method which uses the characteristics of the etch pits induced in a polyallyl-diglycol-carbonate (PADC) detector of the CR-39/PM-355 type to estimate particleenergy. This method is based on the data provided by a semiautomatic system that selects tracks according to two parameters, crater diameters, and mean gray level values. In this paper we used the results of the calibration measurements that were obtained in our laboratory in the period 2000–2014. Combining the information on the two parameters it is possible to determine unambiguously the incident projectile energy values. The paper presents the results of an attempt to estimate the energy resolution of the method when analyzing the tracks produced in the CR-39/PM-355 detector by energetic ions such as alpha particles, protons, and deuterons. We discuss the energy resolution of the measurement of light charged particleenergy which is based on the parameters (crater diameter and mean gray level value) of tracks induced in solid state nuclear track detectors of the PADC type.

In this work we present the setup and first tests of our new BIO IN detector. This detector was constructed to classify atmospheric ice nuclei (IN) for their biological content. It is designed to be coupled to the Fast Ice Nucleus CHamber FINCH. If one particle acts as an ice nucleus, it will be at least partly covered with ice at the end of the development section of the FINCH chamber. The device combines an auto-fluorescence detector and a circular depolarization detector for simultaneous detection of biological material and discrimination between water droplets, ice crystals and non activated large aerosol particles. The excitation of biological material with UV light and analysis of auto-fluorescence is a common principle used for flow cytometry, fluorescence microscopy, spectroscopy and imaging. The detection of auto-fluorescence of airborne single particles demands some more experimental effort. However, expensive commercial sensors are available for special purposes, e.g. size distribution measurements. But these sensors will not fit the specifications needed for the FINCH IN counter (e.g. high sample flow of up 10 LPM). The newly developed -low cost- BIO IN sensor uses a single high-power UV LED for the electronic excitation instead of much more expensive UV lasers. Other key advantages of the new sensor are the low weight, compact size, and the little effect on the aerosol sample, which allows it to be coupled with other instruments for further analysis. The instrument will be flown on one of the first missions of the new German research aircraft "HALO" (High Altitude and LOng range).

The photoluminescence (PL) and UV-vis spectral analysis of DAM-ADC (diallyl maleate: DAM, polyallyl diglycol carbonate: ADC) nuclear detector are demonstrated for the first time. The DAM-ADC surfaces were exposed to thin 241Am disk source that emits alpha particles with activity 333 kBq. It is found that the track density of the irradiated samples remarkably influences the PL characteristics of the DAM-ADC detector. The spectral peak heights and the integrated intensities under the peaks exhibit linear correlations with correlation coefficient R2=0.9636 and 0.9806, respectively for different alpha particle fluences ranging from 8.16-40.82×107 particles/cm2. Additionally, a correlation coefficient R2=0.9734 was achieved for the UV-vis spectral analysis. The linear fitting functions, along with the corresponding fitting parameters were evaluated in each case. Both the PL and the UV-vis data of the irradiated DAM-ADC samples showed considerable spectral differences, and hence they would be used to offer sensitive approaches for alpha particle detection.

The nature and extent of the mysterious ``dark matter'' has been one of the central puzzles in cosmology over the last decade. Current evidence suggests that the universe has a matter content of about 0.3 of the critical density. The theory of Big Bang nucleosynthesis allows only 20% of this matter to be made of protons and neutrons, hinting that the remaining 80% of the mass is in the form of a new elementary particle. One possibility is that this dark matter is made of the lightest neutralino suggested by supersymmetry, which should be stable and have a mass in the range 30-10000 GeV/c 2. These particles would have only weak interactions with ordinary matter, with the typical cross section for scattering on a nucleon below 10 -41 cm2. The particles would constitute a ``dark halo'' in our galaxy and could be discovered through their interactions with detectors on Earth. Since the typical interaction rate would be below 0.1 event/kg-day, the main experimental problem is to reduce the interference from environmental background radiation. The most troublesome interference comes from photons produced by the decay of radioactive elements present at trace levels in the detectors and other apparatus. One way to discriminate between signal events from WIMP- nucleus scattering and background events from photon interactions is to measure the ratio of ionization to heat deposited in a semiconductor detector. This differs by a factor of ~3 between the two cases. The Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMS) experiment is based on the simultaneous measurement of ionization and phonons in germanium and silicon crystals cooled to 25 mK. This measurement allows >99% discrimination against photon interactions above 10 keV of deposited energy. We present data from two 165 g germanium detectors operated at the Stanford Underground Facility, with a total exposure equivalent to 6.4 kg-days. From this data set, we derive limits on the cross sections and masses of weakly interacting dark

During 2010 the LHC delivered pp collisions with a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV. In this paper, the results of comprehensive studies of missing transverse energy as measured by the CMS detector are presented. The results cover the measurements of the scale and resolution for missing transverse energy, and the effects of multiple pp interactions within the same bunch crossings on the scale and resolution. Anomalous measurements of missing transverse energy are studied, and algorithms for their identification are described. The performances of several reconstruction algorithms for calculating missing transverse energy are compared. An algorithm, called missing-transverse-energy significance, which estimates the compatibility of the reconstructed missing transverse energy with zero, is described, and its performance is demonstrated.

Thin ion transmission detectors can be used as a part of a telescope detector for mass and energy identification but also as a pre-cell detector in a microbeam system for studies of biological effects from single ion hits on individual living cells. We investigated a structure of graphene on silicon carbide (SiC) with the purpose to explore a thin transmission detector with a very low noise level and having mechanical strength to act as a vacuum window. In order to reach very deep cavities in the SiC wafers for the preparation of the membrane in the detector, we have studied the Inductive Coupled Plasma technique to etch deep circular cavities in 325 μm prototype samples. By a special high temperature process the outermost layers of the etched SiC wafers were converted into a highly conductive graphitic layer. The produced cavities were characterized by electron microscopy, optical microscopy and proton energy loss measurements. The average membrane thickness was found to be less than 40 μm, however, with a slightly curved profile. Small spots representing much thinner membrane were also observed and might have an origin in crystal defects or impurities. Proton energy loss measurement (also called Scanning Transmission Ion Microscopy, STIM) is a well suited technique for this thickness range. This work presents the first steps of fabricating a membrane structure of SiC and graphene which may be an attractive approach as a detector due to the combined properties of SiC and graphene in a monolithic materials structure.

Quantitative analysis of tritium polymer standards and of brain sections labeled with tritiated vasopressin was carried out by using a gaseous detector of beta particles designed for this purpose. The gaseous detector showed major advantages compared with film autoradiography: the linearity and the large dynamic range of intensity measurements as well as the short time needed for data acquisition. Images PMID:1996346

Quantitative analysis of tritium polymer standards and of brain sections labeled with tritiated vasopressin was carried out by using a gaseous detector of β particles designed for this purpose. The gaseous detector showed major advantages compared with film autoradiography: the linearity and the large dynamic range of intensity measurements as well as the short time needed for data acquisition.

Quantitative analysis of tritium polymer standards and of brain sections labeled with tritiated vasopressin was carried out by using a gaseous detector of beta particles designed for this purpose. The gaseous detector showed major advantages compared with film autoradiography: the linearity and the large dynamic range of intensity measurements as well as the short time needed for data acquisition.

Most 3He replacement neutron detector technologies today have overlapping neutron-gamma pulse-height distributions, which limits their usefulness and performance. Different techniques are used to mitigate this shortcoming, including Pulse Shape Discrimination (PSD) or threshold settings that suppress all gammas as well as much of the neutrons. As a result, count rates are limited and dead times are high when PSD is used, and the detection efficiency for neutron events is reduced due to the high threshold. This is a problem in most applications where the neutron-gamma separation of 3He detectors had been essential. This challenge is especially severe for neutron coincidence and multiplicity measurements that have numerous conflicting requirements such as high detection efficiency, short die-away time, short dead time, and high stability. 6Li-glass scintillators have excellent light output and a single peak distribution, but they are difficult to implement because of their gamma sensitivity. The idea of reducing the gamma sensitivity of 6Li-glass scintillators by embedding small glass particles in an organic light-guide medium was first presented by L.M. Bollinger in the early 60s but, to the best of our knowledge, has never been reduced to practice. We present a proof of principle detector design and experimental data that develop this concept to a large-area neutron detector. This is achieved by using a multi-component optical medium (6Li glass particles attached to a glass supporting structure and a mineral oil light guide) which matches the indices of refraction and minimizes the absorption of the 395 nm scintillator light. The detector design comprises a 10 in. long tube with dual end readout with about 3% volume density of 6Li glass particles installed. The presented experimental data with various neutron and gamma sources show the desired wide gap between the neutron and gamma pulse height distributions, resulting in a true plateau in the counting

This paper presents measurements of distributions of charged particles which are produced in proton–proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of s=8TeV and recorded by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. A special dataset recorded in 2012 with a small number of interactions per beam crossing (below 0.004) and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 160 μb-1 was used. A minimum-bias trigger was utilised to select a data sample of more than 9 million collision events. The multiplicity, pseudorapidity, and transverse momentum distributions of charged particles are shown in different regions of kinematics and charged-particle multiplicity, including measurements of final statesmore » at high multiplicity. The results are corrected for detector effects and are compared to the predictions of various Monte Carlo event generator models which simulate the full hadronic final state.« less

The loop heat pipe (LHP) is among the most effective heat transfer elements. Its principle is based on a continuous evaporation/condensation process and its passive nature does not require any mechanical devices such as pumps to circulate the cooling agent. Instead a porous wick structure in the evaporator provides the capillary pumping forces to drive the fluid [1]. Cryogenic LHP are investigated as potential candidates for the cooling of future small-scale particledetectors and upgrades of existing ones. A large spectrum of cryogenic temperatures can be covered by choosing appropriate working fluids. For high luminosity upgrades of existing experiments installed at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) (TOTEM) and planned ones (FP420) [2-3] being in the design phase, radiation-hard solutions are studied with noble gases as working fluids to limit the radiolysis effect on molecules detrimental to the functioning of the LHP. The installation compactness requirement of experiments such as the CAST frame-store CCD detector cooling system impels also the design of a compact shaped LHP [4]. This paper reports on the design and experimental results of a general purpose LHP for temperatures as low as 110 K, for which the performances were measured using a Gifford-McMahon (GM) cooler as the cold source, combination envisaged for the cooling of future particledetectors.

The development of radiation detectors in the field of nuclear and particle physics has had a terrific impact in medical imaging since this latter discipline took off in late '70 with the invention of the CT scanners. The massive use in Nuclear Physics and High Energy Physics of position sensitive gas detectors, of high Z and high density scintillators coupled to Photomultiplier (PMT) and Position Sensitive Photomultipliers (PSPMT), and of solid state detectors has triggered during the last 30 years a series of novel applications in Medical Imaging with ionizing radiation. The accelerated scientific progression in genetics and molecular biology has finally generated what it is now called Molecular Imaging. This field of research presents additional challenges not only in the technology of radiation detector, but more and more in the ASIC electronics, fast digital readout and parallel software. In this paper we will try to present how Nuclear Physics/High Energy Physics and Medical Imaging have both benefited by the cross-fertilization of research activities between the two fields and how much they will take advantage in the future.

Progress made in the experimental and theoretical high energy physics program is reviewed. The CLEO experiment, particle astrophysics, dynamical symmetry breaking in gauge theories, the Collider Detector at Fermilab, the TOPAZ Experiment, and elementary particle physics beyond the standard model are included.

We have searched for inclusive production of heavy stable particles with charge Q= {2}/{3}, 1 and{4}/{3}in e+e- annihilation, using energy loss measurements by the TOPAZ TPC. In 23.6 pb -1 of data taken at the center of mass energy range √ s=52-61.4 GeV, no such particle was found and new upper limits for the production cross sections were obtained.

On exploratory class missions astronauts will be exposed to range of heavy particles which differ in terms of particleenergy and particle linear energy transfer. The present experiments were designed to evaluate how these physical characteristics of different particles affect cognitive performance...

The absolute calibration of a microchannel plate (MCP) assembly using a Thomson spectrometer for laser-driven ion beams is described. In order to obtain the response of the whole detection system to the particles' impact, a slotted solid state nuclear track detector (CR-39) was installed in front of the MCP to record the ions simultaneously on both detectors. The response of the MCP (counts/particles) was measured for 5-58 MeV carbon ions and for protons in the energy range 2-17.3 MeV. The response of the MCP detector is non-trivial when the stopping range of particles becomes larger than the thickness of the detector. Protons with energies E ≳ 10 MeV are energetic enough that they can pass through the MCP detector. Quantitative analysis of the pits formed in CR-39 and the signal generated in the MCP allowed to determine the MCP response to particles in this energy range. Moreover, a theoretical model allows to predict the response of MCP at even higher proton energies. This suggests that in this regime the MCP response is a slowly decreasing function of energy, consistently with the decrease of the deposited energy. These calibration data will enable particle spectra to be obtained in absolute terms over a broad energy range.

The absolute calibration of a microchannel plate (MCP) assembly using a Thomson spectrometer for laser-driven ion beams is described. In order to obtain the response of the whole detection system to the particles' impact, a slotted solid state nuclear track detector (CR-39) was installed in front of the MCP to record the ions simultaneously on both detectors. The response of the MCP (counts/particles) was measured for 5-58 MeV carbon ions and for protons in the energy range 2-17.3 MeV. The response of the MCP detector is non-trivial when the stopping range of particles becomes larger than the thickness of the detector. Protons with energies E ≳ 10 MeV are energetic enough that they can pass through the MCP detector. Quantitative analysis of the pits formed in CR-39 and the signal generated in the MCP allowed to determine the MCP response to particles in this energy range. Moreover, a theoretical model allows to predict the response of MCP at even higher proton energies. This suggests that in this regime the MCP response is a slowly decreasing function of energy, consistently with the decrease of the deposited energy. These calibration data will enable particle spectra to be obtained in absolute terms over a broad energy range. PMID:27587107

Purpose: Breast CT is an emerging imaging technique that can portray the breast in 3D and improve visualization of important diagnostic features. Early clinical studies have suggested that breast CT has sufficient spatial and contrast resolution for accurate detection of masses and microcalcifications in the breast, reducing structural overlap that is often a limiting factor in reading mammographic images. For a number of reasons, image quality in breast CT may be improved by use of an energy resolving photon counting detector. In this study, the authors investigate the improvements in image quality obtained when using energy weighting with an energy resolving photon counting detector as compared to that with a conventional energy integrating detector. Methods: Using computer simulation, realistic CT images of multiple breast phantoms were generated. The simulation modeled a prototype breast CT system using an amorphous silicon (a-Si), CsI based energy integrating detector with different x-ray spectra, and a hypothetical, ideal CZT based photon counting detector with capability of energy discrimination. Three biological signals of interest were modeled as spherical lesions and inserted into breast phantoms; hydroxyapatite (HA) to represent microcalcification, infiltrating ductal carcinoma (IDC), and iodine enhanced infiltrating ductal carcinoma (IIDC). Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of these three lesions was measured from the CT reconstructions. In addition, a psychophysical study was conducted to evaluate observer performance in detecting microcalcifications embedded into a realistic anthropomorphic breast phantom. Results: In the energy range tested, improvements in SNR with a photon counting detector using energy weighting was higher (than the energy integrating detector method) by 30%–63% and 4%–34%, for HA and IDC lesions and 12%–30% (with Al filtration) and 32%–38% (with Ce filtration) for the IIDC lesion, respectively. The average area under the

Purpose: Breast CT is an emerging imaging technique that can portray the breast in 3D and improve visualization of important diagnostic features. Early clinical studies have suggested that breast CT has sufficient spatial and contrast resolution for accurate detection of masses and microcalcifications in the breast, reducing structural overlap that is often a limiting factor in reading mammographic images. For a number of reasons, image quality in breast CT may be improved by use of an energy resolving photon counting detector. In this study, the authors investigate the improvements in image quality obtained when using energy weighting with an energy resolving photon counting detector as compared to that with a conventional energy integrating detector.Methods: Using computer simulation, realistic CT images of multiple breast phantoms were generated. The simulation modeled a prototype breast CT system using an amorphous silicon (a-Si), CsI based energy integrating detector with different x-ray spectra, and a hypothetical, ideal CZT based photon counting detector with capability of energy discrimination. Three biological signals of interest were modeled as spherical lesions and inserted into breast phantoms; hydroxyapatite (HA) to represent microcalcification, infiltrating ductal carcinoma (IDC), and iodine enhanced infiltrating ductal carcinoma (IIDC). Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of these three lesions was measured from the CT reconstructions. In addition, a psychophysical study was conducted to evaluate observer performance in detecting microcalcifications embedded into a realistic anthropomorphic breast phantom.Results: In the energy range tested, improvements in SNR with a photon counting detector using energy weighting was higher (than the energy integrating detector method) by 30%–63% and 4%–34%, for HA and IDC lesions and 12%–30% (with Al filtration) and 32%–38% (with Ce filtration) for the IIDC lesion, respectively. The average area under the receiver

We describe a hard-X-ray/soft-gamma-ray imaging detector, incorporating a microchannel-plate (MCP) electron multiplier for possible use in future telescopes. In contrast to previous attempts using MCP's this approach promises to achieve high quantum detection efficiencies in addition to high spatial and temporal resolution. Preliminary results indicate not only the capability of simultaneous imaging and single-photon counting, but also coarse energy resolution.

The Energetic ParticleDetector (EPD) Investigation is one of 5 fields-and-particles investigations on the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission. MMS comprises 4 spacecraft flying in close formation in highly elliptical, near-Earth-equatorial orbits targeting understanding of the fundamental physics of the important physical process called magnetic reconnection using Earth's magnetosphere as a plasma laboratory. EPD comprises two sensor types, the Energetic Ion Spectrometer (EIS) with one instrument on each of the 4 spacecraft, and the Fly's Eye Energetic Particle Spectrometer (FEEPS) with 2 instruments on each of the 4 spacecraft. EIS measures energetic ion energy, angle and elemental compositional distributions from a required low energy limit of 20 keV for protons and 45 keV for oxygen ions, up to >0.5 MeV (with capabilities to measure up to >1 MeV). FEEPS measures instantaneous all sky images of energetic electrons from 25 keV to >0.5 MeV, and also measures total ion energy distributions from 45 keV to >0.5 MeV to be used in conjunction with EIS to measure all sky ion distributions. In this report we describe the EPD investigation and the details of the EIS sensor. Specifically we describe EPD-level science objectives, the science and measurement requirements, and the challenges that the EPD team had in meeting these requirements. Here we also describe the design and operation of the EIS instruments, their calibrated performances, and the EIS in-flight and ground operations. Blake et al. (The Flys Eye Energetic Particle Spectrometer (FEEPS) contribution to the Energetic ParticleDetector (EPD) investigation of the Magnetospheric Magnetoscale (MMS) Mission, this issue) describe the design and operation of the FEEPS instruments, their calibrated performances, and the FEEPS in-flight and ground operations. The MMS spacecraft will launch in early 2015, and over its 2-year mission will provide comprehensive measurements of magnetic reconnection at Earth

Experiments which are planned for the Superconducting Super Collider and the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider will involve interactions in which detectors will need to identify and localize hundreds or even thousands of particle tracks simultaneously. Most types of conventional position sensitive, proportional detectors with projective geometry are not able to unravel the individual tracks in these environments. We have been investigating several forms of sub-divided cathode readout to address this problem. We report here on geometric charge division using chevron shaped cathode pads which lie in rows underneath each anode wire. Investigations have quantified the non-linear effects due to avalanche angular localization, and how these become negligible with proper design of the pad. Differential nm-linearity of {plus_minus}5%, and position resolution in the region of 50{mu}m rms, have been achieved.

Experiments which are planned for the Superconducting Super Collider and the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider will involve interactions in which detectors will need to identify and localize hundreds or even thousands of particle tracks simultaneously. Most types of conventional position sensitive, proportional detectors with projective geometry are not able to unravel the individual tracks in these environments. We have been investigating several forms of sub-divided cathode readout to address this problem. We report here on geometric charge division using chevron shaped cathode pads which lie in rows underneath each anode wire. Investigations have quantified the non-linear effects due to avalanche angular localization, and how these become negligible with proper design of the pad. Differential nm-linearity of {plus minus}5%, and position resolution in the region of 50{mu}m rms, have been achieved.

We present results of beam tests of charged particledetectors based on single-crystal and poly-crystalline Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) diamond. We measured the signal pulse height dependence on the particle flux. The detectors were tested over a range of particle fluxes from 2 kHz/cm2 to 20 MHz/cm2. The pulse height of the sensors was measured with pad and pixel readout electronics. The pulse height of the non-irradiated single-crystal CVD diamond pad sensors was stable with respect to flux, while the pulse height of irradiated single-crystal CVD diamond pad sensors decreased with increasing particle flux. The pulse height of the non-irradiated single-crystal CVD diamond pixel detectors decreased slightly with increasing particle flux while the pulse height of the irradiated single-crystal CVD diamond pixel detectors decreased significantly with increasing particle flux. The observed sensitivity to flux is similar in both the diamond pad sensors constructed using diamonds from the Pixel Luminosity Telescope (PLT) irradiated during its pilot run in the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) detector and in neutron irradiated diamond pad sensors from the same manufacturer irradiated to the same fluence of neutrons. The pulse height for irradiated poly-crystalline CVD diamond pad sensors proved to be stable with respect to particle flux.

Spectra of identified charged hadrons in pPb collisions measured with the CMS detector at the LHC at √{sNN}=5.02 TeV are presented. Charged pions, kaons, and protons in the transverse-momentum range pT≈0.1-1.7 GeV/c and laboratory rapidity |y|<1 are identified via their energy loss in the silicon tracker. The average pT increases with particle mass and the charged multiplicity of the event. The increase of the average pT with charged multiplicity is greater for heavier hadrons. Comparisons with Monte Carlo event generators reveal that EPOS LHC, which incorporates additional hydrodynamic evolution of the created system, is able to reproduce most of the data features, unlike HIJING and AMPT. The average transverse momentum and particle ratio measurements indicate that characteristics of particle production at LHC energies are strongly correlated with event particle multiplicity.

Colloidal particles were exposed to a random potential energy landscape that has been created optically via a speckle pattern. The mean particle density as well as the potential roughness, i.e., the disorder strength, were varied. The local probability density of the particles as well as its main characteristics were determined. For the first time, the disorder-averaged pair density correlation function g(1)(r) and an analogue of the Edwards-Anderson order parameter g(2)(r), which quantifies the correlation of the mean local density among disorder realisations, were measured experimentally and shown to be consistent with replica liquid state theory results.

Colloidal particles were exposed to a random potential energy landscape that has been created optically via a speckle pattern. The mean particle density as well as the potential roughness, i.e., the disorder strength, were varied. The local probability density of the particles as well as its main characteristics were determined. For the first time, the disorder-averaged pair density correlation function g((1))(r) and an analogue of the Edwards-Anderson order parameter g((2))(r), which quantifies the correlation of the mean local density among disorder realisations, were measured experimentally and shown to be consistent with replica liquid state theory results. PMID:27475395

We develop methods to detect and localize particle-emitting sources using detector arrays that are inspired by biological compound eyes. The sources of interest may be optical, nuclear, or cosmic; they emit particles such as visible photons, neutrons, protons, or charged particles. Our results may have wide applications to artificial vision, which can be important in robotics (robot vision) or medicine (e.g., artificial eyes for the blind); security, where the detection of nuclear materials is needed; or astronomy. This dissertation consists of three parts. First, we detect a far-field particle source using two directional detector arrays: cubic and spherical. We propose a mean-difference test (MDT) detector, analyze its statistical performance, and show that the MDT has a number of advantages over the generalized likelihood- ratio test (GLRT). Second, we localize the source by proposing a novel biologically inspired detector array, whose configuration generalizes the compound eye of insects. This array combines the advantages of compound eyes (e.g., large field-of-view) and human eyes (e.g., high angular resolution). Based on a statistical model of the array measurements, we analyze the array performance by computing the Cramérao bound (CRB) on the error in estimating the source direction. We also derive lower bounds on the mean-square angular error (MSAE) of the source localization and investigate the MSAE of two source- direction estimators. Numerical examples, including the optimal array design, are presented to further illustrate the array performance. Third, we derive a statistical angular resolution limit (ARL) on resolving two closely spaced point sources in a three-dimensional frame, which is applicable to various measurement models (e.g., radar, sonar, or astronomy). Using the asymptotic analysis of the GLRT, we derive the ARL with constraints on the probabilities of false alarm and detection. Our results give explicit analytical expression for the ARL

The central drift chamber in the Mark II detector at the SLAC Linear Collider has been instrumented with 100-MHz Flash-ADCs. Pulse digitization provides particle identification through the measurement of average ionization loss in the chamber. We present the results of a study of system performance and outline the systematic corrections that optimize resolution. The data used are from a short test run at PEP with one-third of the FADCs installed and an extensive cosmic ray sample with the fully instrumented chamber. 11 refs., 9 figs.

A lightweight energetic particledetector system (EPONA/EPA) is described, which was designed to operate in environmental conditions characterized by the varying solar aspect angles and temperatures pertaining during the cruise phase of the Giotto spacecraft and during the dust bombardment during closest approach (about 600 km) to the nucleus of comet Halley. Representative data, illustrating the functioning of EPONA during both the Giotto cruise phase and at comet encounter, are presented. The instrument has a wide range of applications to other space experiments where reliable plasma diagnostics are required.

The Antarctic Muon And Neutrino Detector Array, AMANDA, is a Cherenkov detector deployed deep in the ice cap at the South Pole. Charged particles traveling faster than the speed of light in ice produce Cherenkov radiation that is detected by Photo-Multiplier Tubes. Using the information obtained by the Photo- Multiplier Tubes, the physical characteristics, such as direction and energy, can be reconstructed. High energy neutrinos of all flavors can produce particle cascades when interacting with matter. In ice, cascades are typically a few meters long, much smaller than the dimensions of AMANDA. Electron neutrinos produce cascades via both the charged and neutral current interactions. Muon and tau neutrinos produce cascades via the neutral current interaction. Isolated cascades are also produced by tau neutrinos via charged current interactions, because the resulting tau, at energies below a few hundred TeV, will travel only a few meters before decaying. Advantages of the cascade channel, compared to neutrino induced muons are better energy resolution and an order of magnitude lower background from atmospheric neutrinos when searching for extra terrestrial neutrinos. Data collected in 1997 were searched for high energy neutrino induced cascades. A total of 1.18 × 109 events were recorded for an effective live-time of 130.1 days. The overwhelming majority of the events recorded were produced by down-going cosmic-ray induced muons. Bright muon energy losses are the main background when searching for high energy extra- terrestrial neutrino induced cascades. The sensitivity of the detector to cascades has been studied using in-situ light sources. No evidence for the existence of a diffuse flux of high energy neutrinos has been found. Limits have been set for fluxes following an E -2 power law spectrum. For ne+n e the limit isFE2<5.7-7.1×10- 6 Ge/Vdot s-1 dot sr-2 90%C.L.For ne+n e+nm+n m+nt+n t the limit is

Silicon sensors, widely used in high energy and nuclear physics experiments, suffer severe radiation damage that leads to degradations in sensor performance. These degradations include significant increases in leakage current, bulk resistivity, and space charge concentration. The increase in space charge concentration is particularly damaging since it can significantly increase the sensor full depletion voltage, causing either breakdown if operated at high biases or charge collection loss if operated at lower biases than full depletion. Several strategies can be used to make Si detectors more radiation had tolerant to particle radiations. In this paper, the main radiation induced degradations in Si detectors will be reviewed. The details and specifics of the new engineering strategies: material/impurity/defect engineering (MIDE); device structure engineering (DSE); and device operational mode engineering (DOME) will be given.

An algorithm for determining the crystal pixel and the gamma ray energy with scintillation detectors for PET is presented. The algorithm uses Likelihood Maximisation (ML) and therefore is inherently robust to missing data caused by defect or paralysed photo detector pixels. We tested the algorithm on a highly integrated MRI compatible small animal PET insert. The scintillation detector blocks of the PET gantry were built with the newly developed digital Silicon Photomultiplier (SiPM) technology from Philips Digital Photon Counting and LYSO pixel arrays with a pitch of 1 mm and length of 12 mm. Light sharing was used to readout the scintillation light from the 30× 30 scintillator pixel array with an 8× 8 SiPM array. For the performance evaluation of the proposed algorithm, we measured the scanner’s spatial resolution, energy resolution, singles and prompt count rate performance, and image noise. These values were compared to corresponding values obtained with Center of Gravity (CoG) based positioning methods for different scintillation light trigger thresholds and also for different energy windows. While all positioning algorithms showed similar spatial resolution, a clear advantage for the ML method was observed when comparing the PET scanner’s overall single and prompt detection efficiency, image noise, and energy resolution to the CoG based methods. Further, ML positioning reduces the dependence of image quality on scanner configuration parameters and was the only method that allowed achieving highest energy resolution, count rate performance and spatial resolution at the same time.

An algorithm for determining the crystal pixel and the gamma ray energy with scintillation detectors for PET is presented. The algorithm uses Likelihood Maximisation (ML) and therefore is inherently robust to missing data caused by defect or paralysed photo detector pixels. We tested the algorithm on a highly integrated MRI compatible small animal PET insert. The scintillation detector blocks of the PET gantry were built with the newly developed digital Silicon Photomultiplier (SiPM) technology from Philips Digital Photon Counting and LYSO pixel arrays with a pitch of 1 mm and length of 12 mm. Light sharing was used to readout the scintillation light from the [Formula: see text] scintillator pixel array with an [Formula: see text] SiPM array. For the performance evaluation of the proposed algorithm, we measured the scanner's spatial resolution, energy resolution, singles and prompt count rate performance, and image noise. These values were compared to corresponding values obtained with Center of Gravity (CoG) based positioning methods for different scintillation light trigger thresholds and also for different energy windows. While all positioning algorithms showed similar spatial resolution, a clear advantage for the ML method was observed when comparing the PET scanner's overall single and prompt detection efficiency, image noise, and energy resolution to the CoG based methods. Further, ML positioning reduces the dependence of image quality on scanner configuration parameters and was the only method that allowed achieving highest energy resolution, count rate performance and spatial resolution at the same time. PMID:26836394

Version 00 NMTC/JAM is an upgraded version of the code CCC-694/NMTC-JAERI97, which was developed in 1982 at JAERI and is based on the CCC-161/NMTC code system. NMTC/JAM simulates high energy nuclear reactions and nuclear meson transport processes. The applicable energy range of NMTC/JAM was extended in principle up to 200 GeV for nucleons and mesons by introducing the high energy nuclear reaction code Jet-Aa Microscopic (JAM) for the intra-nuclear cascade part. For the evaporation andmore » fission process, a new model, GEM, can be used to describe the light nucleus production from the excited residual nucleus. According to the extension of the applicable energy, the nucleon-nucleus non-elastic, elastic and differential elastic cross section data were upgraded. In addition, the particle transport in a magnetic field was implemented for beam transport calculations. Some new tally functions were added, and the format of input and output of data is more user friendly. These new calculation functions and utilities provide a tool to carry out reliable neutronics study of a large scale target system with complex geometry more accurately and easily than with the previous model. It implements an intranuclear cascade model taking account of the in-medium nuclear effects and the preequilibrium calculation model based on the exciton one. For treating the nucleon transport process, the nucleon-nucleus cross sections are revised to those derived by the systematics of Pearlstein. Moreover, the level density parameter derived by Ignatyuk is included as a new option for particle evaporation calculation. A geometry package based on the Combinatorial Geometry with multi-array system and the importance sampling technique is implemented in the code. Tally function is also employed for obtaining such physical quantities as neutron energy spectra, heat deposition and nuclide yield without editing a history file. The code can simulate both the primary spallation reaction and the

A search for dark matter (DM) induced neutrinos from the Milky Way has been performed based on data collected with the Super-Kamiokande detector in the years 1996-2014. Dark matter density is expected to be largely enhanced in the area of the Galactic Center (GC) which may result in increased annihilation/deacy of relic particles in that region. The analysis focuses on the search for angular anisotropy in the number of observed neutrino events between the GC and the other part of the sky where the expected flux of dark matter annihilation/decay products is low. No excess of neutrinos from the GC region has been observed with respect to atmospheric neutrino background. Upper limits on the self-annihilation cross-section and lower limits on the lifetime have been obtained for dark matter particle masses ranging from 1GeV to 10TeV for various dark matter halo models.

High performance Particle Identification system (PID) is a distinguishing characteristic of the ALICE experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Charged particles in the intermediate momentum range are identified in ALICE by the Time-Of-Flight (TOF) detector. The TOF exploits the Multi-gap Resistive Plate Chamber (MRPC) technology, capable of an intrinsic time resolution at the level of few tens of ps with an overall efficiency close to 100% and a large operation plateau. The full system is made of 1593 MRPC chambers with a total area of 141 m2, covering the pseudorapidity interval [-0.9,+0.9] and the full azimuthal angle. The ALICE TOF system has shown very stable operation during the first 3 years of collisions at the LHC. In this paper a summary of the system performance as well as main results with data from collisions will be reported.

Methods of analyzing vapors in an IMS explosives/narcotics detector that is primarily designed for particle collection were investigated, with emphasis on nitroglycerin explosive, and acetic and benzoic acid contaminants in narcotics. A preconcentration step is required because expected vapor concentrations are low. NG adsorption and retention behavior on coated teflon filters that are compatible with the IMS sample desorption system is reported, including the effects of adsorbent, and sampling flow rate, time and volume. Similar investigations were carried out for acetic and benzoic acid vapors, and a gold-plated nickel mesh was selected as the most appropriate IMS-compatible filter for these materials. Vapor sampling flow rates and volumes are much lower than those used in particle sampling. Examples of NG and benzoic acid vapor detection in real and simulated applications are discussed.

Silicon avalanche photodiodes have been fabricated, and their performance as X-ray detectors has been measured. Photon sensitivity and energy resolution were measured as a function of size and operating parameters. Noise thresholds as low as 212 eV were obtained at room temperature, and backscatter X-ray fluorescence data were obtained for aluminum and other light elements. It is concluded that the results with the X-ray detector are extremely encouraging, and the performance is challenging the best available proportional counters. While not at the performance level of either cryogenic silicon or HgI2, these device operate at room temperature and can be reproduced in large numbers and with much larger areas than typically achieved with HgI2. In addition, they are rugged and appear to be indefinitely stable.

Particledetectors made with a guard-ring (GR) electrode, operating at room temperature, have been studied. The detectors were fabricated on a semi-insulating InP crystal co-doped with Ti and Zn, grown using the Liquid-Encapsulated Czochralski technique. The detection performance of the particledetectors was evaluated using alpha particles emitted from a 241Am source. Good detector performance has been achieved with measured charge-collection efficiencies of 99.9% and 98.2% and FWHM energy resolutions of 0.9% and 2.1%. The measurements were carried out at 230 K for negative and positive bias voltages of the irradiated electrode. The good performance is due to the SI properties of the material which has been achieved by doping with suitable Ti atoms and co-doping with a low concentration of Zn acceptors, sufficient to fully compensate shallow donors. Electron and hole charge-collection efficiencies (CCEs) were measured at various temperatures. At room temperature, unlike at low temperature ( T<250 K), the hole CCE was better than the electron CCE, which can be explained by the presence of electron-trapping centres in InP with a temperature-dependent capture rate.

A particle accelerator generates an input particle beam having an initial energy level above a threshold for generating secondary nuclear particles. A thin target is rotated in the path of the input beam for undergoing nuclear reactions to generate the secondary particles and correspondingly decrease energy of the input beam to about the threshold. The target produces low energy secondary particles and is effectively cooled by radiation and conduction. A neutron scatterer and a neutron filter are also used for preferentially degrading the secondary particles into a lower energy range if desired. 18 figs.

A particle accelerator (12) generates an input particle beam having an initial energy level above a threshold for generating secondary nuclear particles. A thin target (14) is rotated in the path of the input beam for undergoing nuclear reactions to generate the secondary particles and correspondingly decrease energy of the input beam to about the threshold. The target (14) produces low energy secondary particles and is effectively cooled by radiation and conduction. A neutron scatterer (44) and a neutron filter (42) are also used for preferentially degrading the secondary particles into a lower energy range if desired.

A low threshold charged particledetector array for the study of fragmentation processes in light-ion-induced reactions has been constructed and successfully implemented at the IUCF and Saturne II accelerators. The array consists of 162-triple-element detector telescopes mounted in a spherical geometry and covering 74% of 4π in solid angle. Telescope elements are composed of (1) an axial-field gas ionization chamber operated with C3F8 gas; (2) a 0.5 mm thick passivated silicon detector, and (3) a 2.8 cm thick CsI(TI) scintillation crystal with photodiode readout. Discrete element identification is obtained for ejectiles up to Z ~ 16 over the dynamic range 0.7 <= E/A <= 95 MeV/nucleon. Isotopes are also distinguished for H, He, Li and Be ejectiles with 8

This is the final report for the Department of Energy Grant to Principal Investigators in Experimental and Theoretical Particle Physics at Boston University. The research performed was in the Energy Frontier at the LHC, the Intensity Frontier at Super-Kamiokande and T2K, the Cosmic Frontier and detector R&D in dark matter detector development, and in particle theory.

A time-of-flight system has been developed to measure the energy of charged particles in the keV range. Positively charged ions passing through very thin carbon films mounted on grids generate secondary electrons. These electrons are accelerated by a -2000 V grid bias towards a grounded channeltron electron multiplier (CEM) which amplifies the signal. Two CEM detector assemblies are mounted 23.1 cm apart along the path of the ions. An ion generates a start signal by passing through the first CEM and a stop signal by passing through the second. The start and stop signals generate a time-of-flight spectrum via conventional electronics. Higher energy alpha particles from radioactive sources have been used to test the system. This time-of-flight system will be deployed to measure the energies of 15 to 30 keV ions produced by a duoplasmatron ion source that is used to characterize ICF detectors.

Silicon and metal are coevaporated onto a silicon substrate in a molecular beam epitaxy system with a larger than stoichiometric amount of silicon so as to epitaxially grow particles of metal silicide embedded in a matrix of single crystal epitaxially grown silicon. The particles interact with incident photons by resonant optical absorption at the surface plasmon resonance frequency. Controlling the substrate temperature and deposition rate and time allows the aspect ratio of the particles to be tailored to desired wavelength photons and polarizations. The plasmon energy may decay as excited charge carriers of phonons, either of which can be monitored to indicate the amount of incident radiation at the selected frequency and polarization.

A method and apparatus for determining the power, momentum, energy, and power density profile of high momentum mass flow. Small probe projectiles of appropriate size, shape and composition are propelled through an intense particle beam at equal intervals along an axis perpendicular to the beam direction. Probe projectiles are deflected by collisions with beam particles. The net beam-induced deflection of each projectile is measured after it passes through the intense particle beam into an array of suitable detectors.

A search for charged massive stable particles has been performed with the D0 detector using 1.1 fb-1 of data. The speed of the particle has been calculated based on the time-of-flight and position information in the muon system. The present research is limited to direct pair-production of the charged massive long-lived particles. We do not consider CMSPs that result from the cascade decays of heavier particles. In this analysis, the exact values of the model parameters of the entire supersymmetric particle mass spectrum, relevant for cascade decays, are not important. We found no evidence of the signal. 95% CL cross-section upper limits have been set on the pair-productions of the stable scaler tau lepton, the gaugino-like charginos, and the higgsino-like charginos. The upper cross section limits vary from 0.31 pb to 0.04 pb, for stau masses in the range between 60 GeV and 300 GeV. We use the nominal value of the theoretical cross section to set limits on the mass of the pair produced charginos. We exclude the pair-produced stable gaugino-like charginos with mass below 206 GeV, and higgsino-like charginos below 171 GeV, respectively. Although the present sensitivity is insufficient to test the model of the pair produced stable staus, we do set cross section limits which can be applied to the pair production of any charged massive stable particle candidates with similar kinematics. These are the most restrictive limits to the present on the cross sections for CMSPs and the first published from the Tevatron Collider Run II. The manuscript has been published by Physical Review Letters in April 2009 and is available at arXiv as.

We investigate the application of the hybrid semiconductor pixel detector Timepix for precise characterization, quantum sensitivity dosimetry and visualization of the charged particle radiation and X-ray field inside commercial aircraft at operational flight altitudes. The quantum counting capability and granularity of Timepix provides the composition and spectral-characteristics of the X-ray and charged-particle field with high sensitivity, wide dynamic range, high spatial resolution and particle type resolving power. For energetic charged particles the direction of trajectory and linear energy transfer can be measured. The detector is operated by the integrated readout interface FITPix for power, control and data acquisition together with the software package Pixelman for online visualization and real-time data processing. The compact and portable radiation camera can be deployed remotely being controlled simply by a laptop computer. The device performs continuous monitoring and accurate time-dependent measurements in wide dynamic range of particle fluxes, deposited energy, absorbed dose and equivalent dose rates. Results are presented for in-flight measurements at altitudes up to 12 km in various flights selected in the period 2006-2013.

Rock salt and limestone are studied to determine their suitability for use as a radio-wave transmission medium in an ultrahigh energy (UHE) cosmic neutrino detector. A sensible radio wave would be emitted by the coherent Cherenkov radiation from negative excess charges inside an electromagnetic shower upon interaction of a UHE neutrino in a high-density medium (Askar'yan effect). If the attenuation length for the radio wave in the material is large, a relatively small number of radio-wave sensors could detect the interaction occurring in the massive material. We measured the complex permittivity of the rock salt and limestone by the perturbed cavity resonator method at 9.4 and 1 GHz to good precision. We obtained new results of measurements at the frequency at 1.0 GHz. The measured value of the radio-wave attenuation length of synthetic rock salt samples is 1080 m. The samples from the Hockley salt mine in the United States show attenuation length of 180 m at 1 GHz, and then we estimate it by extrapolation to be as long as 900 m at 200 MHz. The results show that there is a possibility of utilizing natural massive deposits of rock salt for a UHE neutrino detector. A salt neutrino detector with a size of 2 x 2 x 2 km would detect 10 UHE neutrino/yr generated through the GZK process.

Acoustic neutrino detection is a promising approach for large-scale ultra-high energy neutrino detectors in water. In this paper, a Monte Carlo simulation chain for acoustic neutrino detection devices in water is presented. It is designed within the SeaTray/IceTray software framework. Its modular architecture is highly flexible and makes it easy to adapt to different environmental conditions, detector geometries, and hardware. The simulation chain covers the generation of the acoustic pulse produced by a neutrino interaction and the propagation to the sensors within the detector. In this phase of the development, ambient and transient noise models for the Mediterranean Sea and simulations of the data acquisition hardware, similar to the one used in ANTARES/AMADEUS, are implemented. A pre-selection scheme for neutrino-like signals based on matched filtering is employed, as it can be used for on-line filtering. To simulate the whole processing chain for experimental data, signal classification and acoustic source reconstruction algorithms are integrated. In this contribution, an overview of the design and capabilities of the simulation chain will be given, and some applications and preliminary studies will be presented.

The effect of the induced charge was found on particles less than 1 eV as they passed through simulated parallel, grounded channels that are comparable in dimension to those that are presently in space plasma instruments which measure the flux of low-energy ions. Applications were made to both conducting and semiconducting channels that ranged in length from 0.1 to 50 mm and in aspect ratio from 1 to 100. The effect of the induced charge on particle trajectories from simple straight lines. Several configurations of channel aspect ratio and detector locations are considered. The effect is important only at very low energies with small dimensions.

A charged particle beam is formed to a relatively larger area beam which is well-contained and has a beam area which relatively uniformly deposits energy over a beam target. Linear optics receive an accelerator beam and output a first beam with a first waist defined by a relatively small size in a first dimension normal to a second dimension. Nonlinear optics, such as an octupole magnet, are located about the first waist and output a second beam having a phase-space distribution which folds the beam edges along the second dimension toward the beam core to develop a well-contained beam and a relatively uniform particle intensity across the beam core. The beam may then be expanded along the second dimension to form the uniform ribbon beam at a selected distance from the nonlinear optics. Alternately, the beam may be passed through a second set of nonlinear optics to fold the beam edges in the first dimension. The beam may then be uniformly expanded along the first and second dimensions to form a well-contained, two-dimensional beam for illuminating a two-dimensional target with a relatively uniform energy deposition.

The registration of super high energy neutrinos is a very difficult and also very important problem that requires construction of detectors with large effective target masses. Askaryan pointed out the possibility of registering cascades in dense media by the Cherenkov radio emission of an excess of negative charges in the cascades which arose in interaction between high energyparticles and the atoms of medium. The telescopes for cosmic high energy neutrino detection by radioemission of cascades induced underground, but whose development continues in the atmosphere were proposed by others. The effective target masses of such detectors could be approx. 10(exp 9) tons and more. The properties of Cherenkov radio emission of cascades and the properties of ice in the Antarctic Region make it possible to propose Radio Antarctic Muon and Neutrino Detection (RAMAND): antennas should be placed on the ice surface of approx. 10 sq km to search for radio signals for neutrino (muon) cascades of energy. It is evident from data given that the largest radio telescopes gives the opportunity for registration of the cascades induced by neutrinos with the energies E is greater than or = 10(exp 20) eV.

Atomic cascades caused by ions impinging on bulk materials have remained of interest to the scientific community since their discovery by Goldstein in 1902. While considerable effort has been spent describing and, more recently, simulating these cascades, tools that can study individual events are lacking and several aspects of cascade behavior remain poorly known. These aspects include the material energies that determine cascade magnitude and the variation between cascades produced by monoenergetic ions. We have recently developed an alpha particledetector with a thermodynamic resolution near 100 eV full-width-at-half-maximum (FWHM) and an achieved resolution of 1.06 keV FWHM for 5.3 MeV particles. The detector relies on the absorption of particles by a bulk material and a thermal change in a superconducting thermometer. The achieved resolution of this detector provides the highest resolving power of any energy dispersive technique and a factor of 8 improvement over semiconductor detectors. The exquisite resolution can be directly applied to improved measurements of fundamental nuclear decays and nuclear forensics. In addition, we propose that the discrepancy between the thermodynamic and achieved resolution is due to fluctuations in lattice damage caused by ion-induced cascades in the absorber. Hence, this new detector is capable of measuring the kinetic energy converted to lattice damage in individual atomic cascades. This capability allows new measurements of cascade dynamics; for example, we find that the ubiquitous modeling program, SRIM, significantly underestimates the lattice damage caused in bulk tin by 5.3 MeV alpha particles.

The third High Energy Astronomy Observatory satellite (HEAO-3) carries a particle telescope for the detection of highly charged cosmic ray nuclei. These nuclei, which have Z equal to or greater than 28, are much rarer than the lower charged nuclei in the cosmic radiation. As a consequence, this particle telescope was required to have a large collecting area as well as an ability to resolve individual elements. This paper describes the telescope, composed of large area parallel plate ionization chambers, multiwire ion chamber hodoscopes and a Cherenkov radiation detector. The resulting telescope has a total geometry factor of 59,000 sq cm sr and is capable of measuring the charges of nuclei in the range Z = 14-120.

The paper discusses the design of charged-particledetectors commissioned and developed at the Institute of Electron Technology (ITE) in collaboration with foreign partners, used in international research on transactinide elements and to build personal radiation protection devices in Germany. Properties of these detectors and the results obtained using the devices are also presented. The design of the following epiplanar detector structures is discussed: ♢ 64-element chromatographic arrays for the COMPACT (Cryo On-line Multidetector for Physics And Chemistry of Transactinides) detection system used at the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung in Darmstadt (GSI) for research on Hassium, Copernicium and Flerovium, as well as elements 119 and 120, ♢ 2-element flow detectors for the COLD (Cryo On-Line Detector) system used for research on Copernicium and Flerovium at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Dubna, ♢ detectors for a radon exposimeter and sensors for a neutron dosimeter developed at the Institut für Strahlenschutz, Helmholtz Zentrum München. The design of planar detectors - single-sided and double-sided strip detectors for the Focal Plane Detector Box used at GSI for research on Flerovium and elements 119 and 120 is also discussed.

The knowledge of properties of ice crystals such as size, shape, concavity and roughness is critical in the context of radiative properties of ice and mixed phase clouds. Limitations of current cloud probes to measure these properties can be circumvented by acquiring two-dimensional light scattering patterns instead of particle images. Such patterns were obtained in situ for the first time using the Small Ice Detector 3 (SID-3) probe during several flights in a variety of mid-latitude mixed phase and cirrus clouds. The patterns are analyzed using several measures of pattern texture, selected to reveal the magnitude of particle roughness or complexity. The retrieved roughness is compared to values obtained from a range of well-characterized test particles in the laboratory. It is found that typical in situ roughness corresponds to that found in the rougher subset of the test particles, and sometimes even extends beyond the most extreme values found in the laboratory. In this study we do not differentiate between small-scale, fine surface roughness and large-scale crystal complexity. Instead, we argue that both can have similar manifestations in terms of light scattering properties and also similar causes. Overall, the in situ data is consistent with ice particles with highly irregular or rough surfaces being dominant. Similar magnitudes of roughness were found in growth and sublimation zones of cirrus. The roughness was found to be negatively correlated with the halo ratio, but not with other thermodynamic or microphysical properties found in situ. Slightly higher roughness was observed in cirrus forming in clean oceanic airmasses than in a continental, polluted one. Overall, the roughness and complexity is expected to lead to increased shortwave cloud reflectivity, in comparison with cirrus composed of more regular, smooth ice crystal shapes. These findings put into question suggestions that climate could be modified through aerosol seeding to reduce cirrus cover

The knowledge of properties of ice crystals such as size, shape, concavity and roughness is critical in the context of radiative properties of ice and mixed-phase clouds. Limitations of current cloud probes to measure these properties can be circumvented by acquiring two-dimensional light-scattering patterns instead of particle images. Such patterns were obtained in situ for the first time using the Small Ice Detector 3 (SID-3) probe during several flights in a variety of mid-latitude mixed-phase and cirrus clouds. The patterns are analysed using several measures of pattern texture, selected to reveal the magnitude of particle roughness or complexity. The retrieved roughness is compared to values obtained from a range of well-characterized test particles in the laboratory. It is found that typical in situ roughness corresponds to that found in the rougher subset of the test particles, and sometimes even extends beyond the most extreme values found in the laboratory. In this study we do not differentiate between small-scale, fine surface roughness and large-scale crystal complexity. Instead, we argue that both can have similar manifestations in terms of light-scattering properties and also similar causes. Overall, the in situ data are consistent, with ice particles with highly irregular or rough surfaces being dominant. Similar magnitudes of roughness were found in growth and sublimation zones of cirrus. The roughness was found to be negatively correlated with the halo ratio, but not with other thermodynamic or microphysical properties found in situ. Slightly higher roughness was observed in cirrus forming in clean oceanic air masses than in a continental, polluted one. Overall, the roughness and complexity are expected to lead to increased shortwave cloud reflectivity, in comparison with cirrus composed of more regular, smooth ice crystal shapes. These findings put into question suggestions that climate could be modified through aerosol seeding to reduce cirrus

Thread-parallelisation and single-instruction multiple data (SIMD) ”vectorisation” of software components in HEP computing has become a necessity to fully benefit from current and future computing hardware. In this context, the Geant-Vector/GPU simulation project aims to re-engineer current software for the simulation of the passage of particles through detectors in order to increase the overall event throughput. As one of the core modules in this area, the geometry library plays a central role and vectorising its algorithms will be one of the cornerstones towards achieving good CPU performance. Here, we report on the progress made in vectorising the shape primitives, as well as in applying new C++ template based optimisations of existing code available in the Geant4, ROOT or USolids geometry libraries. We will focus on a presentation of our software development approach that aims to provide optimised code for all use cases of the library (e.g., single particle and many-particle APIs) and to support different architectures (CPU and GPU) while keeping the code base small, manageable and maintainable. We report on a generic and templated C++ geometry library as a continuation of the AIDA USolids project. The experience gained with these developments will be beneficial to other parts of the simulation software, such as for the optimisation of the physics library, and possibly to other parts of the experiment software stack, such as reconstruction and analysis.

The Main Injector Particle Production (MIPP) experiment is a fixed target hadron production experiment at Fermilab. MIPP is a high acceptance spectrometer which provides excellent charged particle identification using Time Projection Chamber (TPC), Time of Flight (ToF), multicell Cherenkov (Ckov), ring imaging Cherenkov (RICH) detectors, and Calorimeter for neutrons. The MIPP experiment is designed to measure particle production in interactions of 120 GeV/c primary protons from the Main Injector and secondary beams of $\\pi^{\\pm}, \\rm{K}^{\\pm}$, p and $\\bar{\\rm{p}}$ from 5 to 90 GeV/c on nuclear targets which include H, Be, C, Bi and U, and a dedicated run with the NuMI target. The goal of the experiment is to measure hadron production cross sections or yields using these beams and targets. These hadronic interaction data can have a direct impact on the detailed understanding of the neutrino fluxes of several accelerator-based neutrino experiments like MINOS, MINER$\

A survey of recent results on the shapes and relative slopes of the spectra of various solar energetic particle populations is presented, with emphasis on the more extensive results currently available for protons, alphas and electrons. From previous work, it is found that proton spectra 0.8 to more than 400 MeV and alpha spectra 1.4 to 80 MeV/nucleon are best characterized, on average, by a functional form involving a Bessel function in momentum/nucleon. However, proton and alpha spectral slopes using this form are not equal, and there is significant variation from event to event. From other studies, electrons 0.02 to 20 MeV are also found to have curved spectra, but seem to be better fit with a double power law in energy. The spectral properties in both cases correlate with other measures of solar particle acceleration; e.g. gamma-ray line production, hard X-ray burst spectra and microwave fluxes.

Work scheduled under year two of DOE Grant DE-FG02-04ER63734 is on schedule and all year-two milestones have or will be met. Results to date demonstrate that unprecedented silicon carbide (SiC) energy resolution has been obtained, and that SiC detectors may achieve energy resolution that exceeds that obtainable with the best silicon alpha spectrometers. Fast-neutron energy spectrometry measurements indicate that recoil-ion energy spectrometry should be possible with SiC detectors. Furthermore, SiC detectors have been demonstrated to perform well even after gamma-ray exposures of 1.E09 Rad. This result and the previously demonstrated capability of SiC detectors to operate in elevated-temperature environments are very promising for potential DOE EMSP applications. A new class of multipurpose, radiation-resistant semiconductor detectors that can be used in elevated-temperature and high-radiation environments is being developed under this grant. These detectors, based on silicon carbide (SiC) semiconductor are designed to have larger active volumes than previously available SiC detectors, and are being tested for their response to alpha particles, X-rays and low energy gamma rays, and fast neutrons. Specifically, SiC radiation detectors with larger areas and 100-micrometer thick active regions have been designed and manufactured according to detector-design specifications. Detectors based on a Schottky diode design were specified in order to minimize the effects of the detector entrance window on alpha particle measurements. During manufacture of the Schottky diodes, the manufacturer also provided a set of large-volume SiC p-i-n diodes for testing Extensive alpha particle measurements have been carried out to test and quantify the response of the SiC Schottky diodes. Exposures to 148-Gd, 213-Po, 217-At, 221-Fr, 225-Ac, 237-Np, 238-Pu, 240-Pu, and 242-Pu sources were used to obtain detailed alpha response data in the alpha energy range from 3182.787 keV to 8375.9 ke

The low energyparticle signature of substorm dipolarization is exhibited through a case study of RIMS data on DE-1 at [approximately]2100 MLT, ILAT = 59[degrees][approximately]65[degrees], L = 3.8 [approximately] 5.4 R[sub E], and geocentric distances 2.6[approximately]2.9 R[sub E]. A strong cross-field-line, poleward outflow that lasts for a few minutes with a velocity that reaches at least 50 km/s is correlated with substorm activity evidenced in the AE index and the MAG-1 data. All the major species (H[sup +], He[sup +], O[sup +]) are observed to have the same bulk velocity. The parallel velocities are strongly correlated with the perpendicular velocities. The parallel acceleration is shown to result from the centrifugal force of the ExB drift induced by the dipolarizing perturbation of the magnetic field. 9 refs., 4 figs.

Cadmium Zinc Telluride (CdZnTe or CZT) is a polycrystalline radiation detector that has been investigated over the years for a variety of applications including Constellation X-ray space mission [1] and direct-conversion medical imaging such as digital mammography [2]. Due to its high conversion gain and low electron-hole pair creation energy (~4.43 eV) [3], it has found use in high end, photon counting medical imaging applications including positron emission tomography (PET), computed tomography (CT) and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). However, its potential in low photon energy applications has not been fully explored. In this work, we explore the capacity of the CZT material to count low photon energies (6 keV - 20 keV). These energies are of direct relevance to applications in gamma ray breast brachytheraphy and mammography, X-ray protein crystallography, X-ray mammography and mammography tomosynthesis. We also present a design that integrates the CZT direct conversion detector with an inhouse fabricated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) thin film transistor (TFT) passive pixel sensor (PPS) array. A CZT photoconductor (2 cm x 2 cm size, 5-mm-thick) prepared by the traveling heat method (THM) from RedlenTM is characterized. The current-voltage characteristics reveal a resistivity of 3.3 x 1011 Ω•cm and a steady state dark current in the range of nA. Photocurrent transients under different biases and illumination pulses are studied to investigate photogeneration and the charge trapping process. It is found that charge trapping plays a more significant role in transient behavior at low biases and low frequency.

A mode of interaction predicted by the Standard Model of particle physics, but not yet observed, is coherent neutrino-nucleus scattering (CNNS). CNNS results from the neutrino (or antineutrino) scattering coherently with the entire nucleus rather than a single nucleon. The leading challenge in detecting CNNS is the resulting sub-keV nuclear recoil energies, producing little ionization in the detector medium. In order to detect the CNNS interaction, it is beneficial to first measure the nuclear ionization yield for the chosen detector medium. The ionization yield represents the expected number of electrons produced by a nuclear recoil, and it depends both on the recoil energy and on the detector medium in which the recoil occurs. Additionally, the ionization yield depends on the applied electron drift electric field, and for this reason it should be measured directly in the detector type anticipated for future CNNS measurements. This dissertation is focused on making the prediction and measurement of the ionization yield in LAr using a dual-phase Ar detector. Due to the complexity of measuring the ionization yield at various energies, it is beneficial to also construct a predictive model for the ionization yield. In this dissertation, the prediction of the ionization yield is made on the basis of a simulation of a two-stage process. The number of ionizations generated from Ar recoil of a given energy is simulated using a Monte Carlo atomic collision model, along with the cross sections for ionization and excitation in Ar + Ar collisions. After the electrons are generated, a fraction of them recombine with the initially generated ion cloud. The electron recombination fraction is simulated by assigning the emitted electrons either 1 or 10 eV of initial kinetic energy and transporting the electrons under the influence of Coulomb forces of the ion cloud and an applied external electric field. The simulation predicts the energy dependent ionization yield, with a value of

A method of energy recovery for RF-base linear charged particle accelerators that allows energy recovery without large relative momentum spread of the particle beam involving first accelerating a waveform particle beam having a crest and a centroid with an injection energy E.sub.o with the centroid of the particle beam at a phase offset f.sub.o from the crest of the accelerating waveform to an energy E.sub.full and then recovering the beam energy centroid a phase f.sub.o+Df relative to the crest of the waveform particle beam such that (E.sub.full-E.sub.o)(1+cos(f.sub.o+Df))>dE/2 wherein dE=the full energy spread, dE/2=the full energy half spread and Df=the wave form phase distance.

The energy-loss rate of a fast particle in graphene is studied. The energy-loss rate always increases with increasing incident particleenergy, which is quite unusual when compared to electron gas in normal metal. Graphene exhibits a ''discriminating'' behavior where there exists a low energy cut-off below which the scattering process is strictly forbidden, leading to lossless traverse of an external particle in graphene. This low energy cutoff is of the order of nearest neighbor hopping bandwidth. Our results suggest that backscattering is also absent in the external particle scattering of graphene.

The ECHO-6 sounding rocket was launched from the Poke Flat Research Range, Alaska on 30 March 1983. A Terrier-Black Brant launch vehicle carried the payload on a northward trajectory over an auroral arc and to an apogee of 216 kilometers. The primary objective of the ECHO-6 experiment was to evaluate electric fields, magnetic fields, and plasma processes in the distant magnetosphere by injecting electron beams in the ionosphere and observing conjugate echoes. The experiment succeeded in injection 10-36 keV beams during the existence of a moderate growth-phase aurora, an easterly electrojet system, and a pre-midnight inflation condition of the magnetosphere. The ECHO-6 payload system consisted of an accelerator MAIN payload, a free-flying Plasma Diagnostics Package (PDP), and four rocket-propelled Throw Away Detectors (TADs). The PDP was ejected from the MAIN payload to analyze electric fields, plasma particles, energetic electrons, and photometric effects produced by beam injections. The TADs were ejected from the MAIN payload in a pattern to detect echoes in the conjugate echo region south of the beam-emitting MAIN payload. The TADs reached distances exceeding 3 kilometers from the MAIN payload and made measurements of the ambient electrons by means of solid-state detectors and electrostatic analyzers.

Particle physics detectors utilize readout data links requiring a complicated network of copper wires or optical fibers. These links are both massive and costly. Upgrades to such detectors may require additional bandwidth to be provisioned with limited space available to route new cables or fibers. In contrast, free-space optical interconnects will offer cable-less readout, thereby resulting in significant reductions of material and labor. A collaborative effort between Fermilab and Vega Wave Systems is pursuing the development of a unique free-space optical link design that utilizes the transparency of silicon at wavelengths including 1310 nm and multiple wavelengths used in standard telecommunications applications such as coarse wavelength division multiplexing (CWDM). The first step in the pursuit of that design is a proof that the concept may be viable. To that end, experiments have been performed to characterize the bit error rate performance of a prototype link over a free-space optical path and through doped silicon at multi-gigabit rates. These experiments have demonstrated that operation within acceptable bit error rates is possible using single and multiple wavelength transmission arrangements.

A wide variety of astrophysical observations indicate that approximately 85% of the matter in the universe is nonbaryonic and nonluminous. Understanding the nature of this "dark matter" is one of the most important outstanding questions in cosmology. Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) are a leading candidate for dark matter since they would be thermally produced in the early universe in the correct abundance to account for the observed relic density of dark matter. If WIMPs account for the dark matter, then rare interactions from relic WIMPs should be observable in terrestrial detectors. Recently, unexplained excess events in the DAMA/LIBRA, CoGeNT, and CRESST-II experiments have been interpreted as evidence of scattering from WIMPs with masses ˜10 GeV and spin-independent scattering cross sections of 10--41--10 --40 cm2. The Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMS II) attempts to identify WIMP interactions using an array of cryogenic germanium and silicon particledetectors located at the Soudan Underground Laboratory in northern Minnesota. In this dissertation, data taken by CDMS II are reanalyzed using a 2 keV recoil energy threshold to increase the sensitivity to WIMPs with masses ˜10 GeV. These data disfavor an explanation for the DAMA/LIBRA, CoGeNT, and CRESST-II results in terms of spin-independent elastic scattering of WIMPs with masses ≲ 12 GeV, under standard assumptions. At the time of publication, they provided the strongest constraints on spin-independent elastic scattering from 5--9 GeV, ruling out previously unexplored parameter space. To detect WIMPs or exclude the remaining parameter space favored by the most popular models will ultimately require detectors with target masses ≳ 1 ton, requiring an increase in mass by more than two orders of magnitude over CDMS II. For cryogenic detectors such as CDMS, scaling to such large target masses will require individual detector elements to be fabricated more quickly and cheaply, while maintaining

A wide variety of astrophysical observations indicate that approximately 85% of the matter in the universe is nonbaryonic and nonluminous. Understanding the nature of this "dark matter" is one of the most important outstanding questions in cosmology. Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) are a leading candidate for dark matter since they would be thermally produced in the early universe in the correct abundance to account for the observed relic density of dark matter. If WIMPs account for the dark matter, then rare interactions from relic WIMPs should be observable in terrestrial detectors. Recently, unexplained excess events in the DAMA/LIBRA, CoGeNT, and CRESST-II experiments have been interpreted as evidence of scattering from WIMPs with masses ~10 GeV and spin-independent scattering cross sections of 10-41-10-40 cm2. The Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMS II) attempts to identify WIMP interactions using an array of cryogenic germanium and silicon particledetectors located at the Soudan Underground Laboratory in northern Minnesota. In this dissertation, data taken by CDMS II are reanalyzed using a 2 keV recoil energy threshold to increase the sensitivity to WIMPs with masses ~10 GeV. These data disfavor an explanation for the DAMA/LIBRA, CoGeNT, and CRESST-II results in terms of spin-independent elastic scattering of WIMPs with masses ≲12 GeV, under standard assumptions. At the time of publication, they provided the strongest constraints on spin-independent elastic scattering from 5-9 GeV, ruling out previously unexplored parameter space. To detect WIMPs or exclude the remaining parameter space favored by the most popular models will ultimately require detectors with target masses ≳1 ton, requiring an increase in mass by more than two orders of magnitude over CDMS II. For cryogenic detectors such as CDMS, scaling to such large target masses will require individual detector elements to be fabricated more quickly and cheaply, while

Micro-Pattern Gaseous Detectors (MPGDs) such as Micromegas or GEM are used in particle physics experiments for their capability of particle tracking at high rates. Their excellent position resolutions are well known but their energy characteristics have been less studied. The energy resolution is mainly affected by ionisation processes and gain fluctuations. This paper presents a method to separately measure these two contributions to the energy resolution of a Micromegas detector. The method relies on the injection of a controlled number of primary electrons in the gas. The Micromegas has a 1.6-mm drift zone and a 160-μm amplification gap. It is operated in Ne 95%-iC4H10 5% at atmospheric pressure. The electrons are generated by non-linear photoelectric emission derived from the photons of a pulsed 337-nm wavelength laser coupled to a focusing system. The single-electron response has been measured at different gains ( 3.7×104, 5.0×104 and 7.0×104) and is fit with good agreement by a Polya distribution. From those fits, a relative gain variance of 0.31±0.02 is deduced. The setup has also been characterised at several voltages by fitting the energy resolution measured as a function of the number of primary electrons, ranging from 5 to 210. An upper limit on the Fano factor (0.37) has been estimated for 5.9 keV X-rays absorbed in a Ne 95%-iC4H10 5% gas mixture.

We introduce a new x-ray radiation detector. The detector employs high-energy current (HEC) formed by secondary electrons consisting predominantly of photoelectrons and Auger electrons, to directly convert x-ray energy to detector signal without externally applied power and without amplification. The HEC detector is a multilayer structure composed of thin conducting layers separated by dielectric layers with an overall thickness of less than a millimeter. It can be cut to any size and shape, formed into curvilinear surfaces, and thus can be designed for a variety of QA applications. We present basic dosimetric properties of the detector as function of x-ray energy, depth in the medium, area and aspect ratio of the detector, as well as other parameters. The prototype detectors show similar dosimetric properties to those of a thimble ionization chamber, which operates at high voltage. The initial results obtained for kilovoltage x-rays merit further research and development towards specific medical applications.

In this paper, a scintillator-based online beam profile detector for the characterization of laser-driven proton beams is presented. Using a pixelated matrix with varying absorber thicknesses, the proton beam is spatially resolved in two dimensions and simultaneously energy-resolved. A thin plastic scintillator placed behind the absorber and read out by a CCD camera is used as the active detector material. The spatial detector resolution reaches down to ∼4 mm and the detector can resolve proton beam profiles for up to 9 proton threshold energies. With these detector design parameters, the spatial characteristics of the proton distribution and its cut-off energy can be analyzed online and on-shot under vacuum conditions. The paper discusses the detector design, its characterization and calibration at a conventional proton source, as well as the first detector application at a laser-driven proton source. PMID:27587116

A review is given of current knowledge of low-energy cosmic ray particles produced in the solar system. It is argued that the notion that the sun alone can accelerate particles in the solar system must be abandoned in light of evidence that Jupiter and earth may be sources of observed low-energyparticles. Measurements of the composition and energy spectra of low-energyparticles during quiet times are examined, emphasizing the abundance of protons and helium and of anomalous N, O, and Ne. The abundance of heavy particles (B, C, N, O, Ne, Ca and Fe) of unknown origin in the earth magnetosphere is examined. Reported observations of Jovian electrons are discussed and solar particle events with anomalous compositions (He-3 rich events and Fe rich events) are treated in detail. Nuclear abundances of solar particles, emphasizing their temporal and spatial variations are considered together with the nature of nuclear reaction products in solar flares.

Scenarios for a manned mission to the Moon or Mars call for astronaut teams to be accompanied by semiautonomous robots. A prerequisite for human-robot interaction is the capability of successfully tracking humans and objects in the environment. In this paper we present a system for real-time visual object tracking in 2D images for mobile robotic systems. The proposed algorithm is able to specialize to individual objects and to adapt to substantial changes in illumination and object appearance during tracking. The algorithm is composed by two main blocks: a detector based on Histogram of Oriented Gradient (HOG) descriptors and linear Support Vector Machines (SVM), and a tracker which is implemented by an adaptive Rao-Blackwellised particle filter (RBPF). The SVM is re-trained online on new samples taken from previous predicted positions. We use the effective sample size to decide when the classifier needs to be re-trained. Position hypotheses for the tracked object are the result of a clustering procedure applied on the set of particles. The algorithm has been tested on challenging video sequences presenting strong changes in object appearance, illumination, and occlusion. Experimental tests show that the presented method is able to achieve near real-time performances with a precision of about 7 pixels on standard video sequences of dimensions 320 × 240.

The first part of ALTEA-Space experiments have been performed on the ISS (USLab) between August 2006 and July 2007. The ALTEA hardware features 6 particle telescopes each with 6 striped 8 x 16 cm2 silicon planes arranged alternately in the x and y direction. These detectors are hold by helmet shaped holder. ALTEA features also a light tight visual stimulation unit, a 32 channel EEG cap and electronics, a 3-buttons pushbutton. Two different experiment modalities were run: DOSI and CNSM. The former is the study of the radiation environment of the USLab, and results from these measurements are mostly covered by other papers in this conference; the latter is the study of the electrophysiological activity in coincidence with particle traveling through the eye/brain of the astronaut, with specific reference to the observed light flashes. In this paper we will present first results from these measurements and discuss, within this panorama, the amount of the measured radiation in the brain/eye. Seven CNSM sessions have been performed (on three astronauts), with a total of 20 light flashes perceived. Comparisons with previous measurements in Low Earth Orbit and during the flights to the Moon will be also shown

The spectroscopic performance of two Frisch collar CdZnTe (CZT) detectors with different dimensions has been tested and evaluated after exposing to high energy gamma rays. The dimensions of one of the detectors, detector A, were 4.2×6.2×6.5 mm3 and that of detector B were 3.0×4.0×9.0 mm3. Detector grade CZT crystals were grown from zone refined Cd, Zn, and Te (~7N) precursor materials, using the tellurium solvent method. Detectors with virtual Frisch grid configuration were fabricated from these crystals. I-V measurements revealed low leakage currents at room-temperature, ~ 11 nA at 1100V for detector A and 14.5 nA at 1800V for detector B. For the spectroscopic measurements, the detectors were irradiated using a 137Cs source. Detector A showed an impressive energy resolution of 1.4% and detector B showed an energy resolution of ~5.9 % for 662 keV from Cs-137 radioisotope. A digital technique based biparametric correlation study showed that the performance of detector B was limited by the operating bias voltage. Further, a digital correction scheme has been described and was applied to recover the effect of charge (electron) - loss.

A novel sandwich-style single-shot detector has been built by stacking two indirect-conversion flat-panel detectors for preclinical dual-energy mouse imaging. Although this single-shot method is more immune to motion artifacts compared with the conventional dual-shot method (i.e., fast kVp switching), it may suffer from reduced image quality because of poor spectral separation between the two detectors. Spectral separation can be improved by using an intermediate filter between the two detector layers. Adversely, the filter reduces the number of x-ray photons reaching the rear detector, hence probably increasing image noise. For a better design and practical use of the sandwich detector for single-shot dual-energy imaging, imaging performances of each detector layer in the sandwich detector are investigated for various spectral-separation extents and applied tube voltages. The imaging performances include the modulation-transfer function, the Wiener noise-power spectrum, and the detective quantum efficiency. According to the experimental results, impacts of the intermediate filter on the imaging performances of each detector layer are marginal. The detailed experimental results are shown in this study.

The lunar surface cosmic ray experiment, consisting of sets of mica, glass, plastic, and metal foil detectors, was successfully deployed on the Apollo 17 mission. One set of detectors was exposed directly to sunlight and another set was placed in shade. Preliminary scanning of the mica detectors shows the expected registration of heavy solar wind ions in the sample exposed directly to the sun. The initial results indicate a depletion of very-heavy solar wind ions. The effect is probably not real but is caused by scanning inefficiencies. Despite the lack of any pronounced solar activity, energetic heavy particles with energies extending to 1 MeV/nucleon were observed. Equal track densities of approximately 6000 tracks/cm sq 0.5 microns in length were measured in mica samples exposed in both sunlight and shade.

This is the final report of a program of research on ``Experimental Studies of Elementary Particle Interactions at High Energies'' of the High Energy Physics (HEP) group of The Rockefeller University. The research was carried out using the Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF) and the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) detector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. Three faculty members, two research associates, and two postdoctoral associates participated in this project. At CDF, we studied proton-antiproton collisions at an energy of 1.96 TeV. We focused on diffractive interactions, in which the colliding antiproton loses a small fraction of its momentum, typically less than 1%, while the proton is excited into a high mass state retaining its quantum numbers. The study of such collisions provides insight into the nature of the diffractive exchange, conventionally referred to as Pomeron exchange. In studies of W and Z production, we found results that point to a QCD-based interpretation of the diffractive exchange, as predicted in a data-driven phenomenology developed within the Rockefeller HEP group. At CMS, we worked on diffraction, supersymmetry (SUSY), dark matter, large extra dimensions, and statistical applications to data analysis projects. In diffraction, we extended our CDF studies to higher energies working on two fronts: measurement of the single/double diffraction and of the rapidity gap cross sections at 7 TeV, and development of a simulation of diffractive processes along the lines of our successful model used at CDF. Working with the PYTHIA8 Monte Carlo simulation authors, we implemented our model as a PYTHIA8-MBR option in PYTHIA8 and used it in our data analysis. Preliminary results indicate good agreement. We searched for SUSY by measuring parameters in the Constrained Minimal Supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model (CMSSM) and found results which, combined with other experimental constraints and theoretical considerations, indicate that the

A two-dimensional position-sensitive dosimetry system based on a scintillating gas detector is being developed with the aim of using it for pre-treatment verification of dose distributions in charged particle therapy. The dosimetry system consists of a chamber filled with an Ar/CF(4) scintillating gas mixture, inside which two cascaded gas electron multipliers (GEMs) are mounted. A GEM is a thin kapton foil with copper cladding structured with a regular pattern of sub-mm holes. In such a system, light quanta are emitted by the scintillating gas mixture during the electron avalanches in the GEM holes when radiation traverses the detector. The light intensity distribution is proportional to the energy deposited in the detector's sensitive volume by the beam. In the present work, we investigated the optimization of the scintillating GEM detector light yield. The light quanta are detected by means of a CCD camera or a photomultiplier tube coupled to a monochromator. The GEM charge signal is measured simultaneously. We have found that with 60 microm diameter double conical GEM holes, a brighter light signal and a higher electric signal are obtained than with 80 microm diameter holes. With an Ar + 8% CF(4) volume concentration, the highest voltage across the GEMs and the largest light and electric signals were reached. Moreover, we have found that the emission spectrum of Ar/CF(4) is independent of (1) the voltages applied across the GEMs, (2) the x-ray beam intensity and (3) the GEM hole diameter. On the other hand, the ratio of Ar to CF(4) peaks in the spectrum changes when the concentration of the latter gas is varied. PMID:18854612

Cherenkov detectors can offer a significant advantage in spatial imaging applications when excellent timing response, low noise and cross talk, large area coverage, and the ability to operate in magnetic fields are required. We show that an array of Cherenkov detectors with crude energy resolution coupled with monochromatic photons resulting from a low-energy nuclear reaction can be used to produce a sharp image of material while providing large and inexpensive detector coverage. The analysis of the detector response to relative transmission of photons with various energies allows for reconstruction of material's effective atomic number further aiding in high-Z material identification.

The charged particledetector SLED on the Phobos-2 spacecraft has recorded, during a number of circular orbits about Mars, significant fluxes of ions with energies up to 200 keV in close spatial association with the Martian bow shock. The observed characteristics of these enhancements suggest that different shock acceleration mechanisms were operative in producing individual events.

Metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) circuits for measuring spatially varying intensities of beams of low-energy charged particles have been developed. These circuits are intended especially for use in measuring fluxes of ions with spatial resolution along the focal planes of mass spectrometers. Unlike prior mass spectrometer focal-plane detectors, these MOS circuits would not be based on ion-induced generation of electrons, and photons; instead, they would be based on direct detection of the electric charges of the ions. Hence, there would be no need for microchannel plates (for ion-to-electron conversion), phosphors (for electron-to-photon conversion), and photodetectors (for final detection) -- components that degrade spatial resolution and contribute to complexity and size. The developmental circuits are based on linear arrays of charge-coupled devices (CCDs) with associated readout circuitry (see figure). They resemble linear CCD photodetector arrays, except that instead of a photodetector, each pixel contains a capacitive charge sensor. The capacitor in each sensor comprises two electrodes (typically made of aluminum) separated by a layer of insulating material. The exposed electrode captures ions and accumulates their electric charges during signal-integration periods.

The Idaho National Laboratory has recently developed a detector system based on the principle of a Wilson cloud chamber that gives the original energy and direction to a gamma ray source. This detector has the properties that the energy resolution is continuous and the direction to the source can be resolved to desired fidelity. Furthermore, the detector has low power requirements, is durable, operates in widely varying environments, and is relatively cheap to produce. This detector is expected, however, to require significant time to perform measurements. To mitigate the significant time for measurements, the detector is expected to scale to very large sizes with a linear increase in cost. For example, the proof of principle detector is approximately 30,000 cm3. This work describes the technical results that lead to these assertions. Finally, the applications of this detector are described in the context of nuclear material accountability.

Work scheduled under year two of DOE Grant DE-FG02-04ER63734 is on schedule and all year-two milestones have or will be met. Results to date demonstrate that unprecedented silicon carbide (SiC) energy resolution has been obtained, and that SiC detectors may achieve energy resolution that exceeds that obtainable with the best silicon alpha spectrometers. Fast-neutron energy spectrometry measurements indicate that recoil-ion energy spectrometry should be possible with SiC detectors. Furthermore, SiC detectors have been demonstrated to perform well even after gamma-ray exposures of 1.E09 Rad. This result and the previously demonstrated capability of SiC detectors to operate in elevated-temperature environments are very promising for potential DOE EMSP applications. A new class of multipurpose, radiation-resistant semiconductor detectors that can be used in elevated-temperature and high-radiation environments is being developed under this grant. These detectors, based on silicon carbide (SiC) semiconductor are designed to have larger active volumes than previously available SiC detectors, and are being tested for their response to alpha particles, X-rays and low energy gamma rays, and fast neutrons.

The average energy expended per electron-ion pair, W value, is critical in understanding a liquid xenon detectorenergy response to low energy recoils. The reduction of scintillation and ionization yield for electronic recoils and nuclear recoils are explained using the scintillation quenching mechanism due to the variation of the average energy expended per electron hole pair, W value, which includes the energy lost to scintillation and phonon generation. We show the theoretical calculation of scintillation efficiency with W value in comparison with experimental data. The impact of variation of W value on the analysis of energy scale is discussed in detail. We conclude that the W value determined with experimental data depends on recoil energy and particle type. This work is supported by NSF in part by the NSF OIA 1434142, DOE Grant DE-FG02-10ER46709, and the State of South Dakota.

The sizes of tracks of events of neutrinoless double-beta decay in a Germanium detector depend on particle physics and nuclear physics parameters such as neutrino mass, right-handed current parameters, etc., and nuclear matrix elements. In this paper for the first time Monte Carlo simulations of neutrino-accompanied (2{nu}{beta}{beta}) and neutrinoless double-beta decay (0{nu}{beta}{beta}) events, and of various kinds of background processes such as multiple and other {gamma} interactions are reported for a Ge detector. The time history of the evolution of the individual events is followed and the sizes of the events (partial volumes in the detector inside which the energy of the event is released) are investigated. Effects of the angular correlations of the two electrons in {beta}{beta} decay, which again depend on the above nuclear and (for 0{nu}{beta}{beta} decay) on particle physics parameters, are taken into account and have been calculated for this purpose for the first time on basis of the experimental half-life of {sup 76}Ge and of realistic nuclear matrix elements. The sizes determine, together with the location of the events in the detector, the pulse shapes to be observed. It is shown for {beta}{beta} decay of {sup 76}Ge, that {beta}{beta} events should be selectable with high efficiency by rejecting large size (high multiplicity) {gamma} events. Double-escape peaks of similar energy of {gamma} lines show concerning their sizes similar behavior as 0{nu}{beta}{beta} events, and in that sense can be of some use for corresponding 'calibration' of pulse shapes of the detector. The possibility to distinguish {beta}{beta} events from {gamma} events is found to be essentially independent of the particle physics parameters of the 0{nu}{beta}{beta} process. A brief outlook is given on the potential of future experiments with respect to determination of the particle physics parameters ,,.

A system for measuring gamma-ray radial energy deposition is provided for use in conjunction with a semiconductor detector. The detector comprises two electrodes and a detector material, and defines a plurality of zones within the detecting material in parallel with the two electrodes. The detector produces a charge signal E(t) when a gamma-ray interacts with the detector. Digitizing means are provided for converting the charge signal E(t) into a digitized signal. A computational means receives the digitized signal and calculates in which of the plurality of zones the gamma-ray deposited energy when interacting with the detector. The computational means produces an output indicating the amount of energy deposited by the gamma-ray in each of the plurality of zones.

A 60 cm diameter spherical high-vacuum target-chamber with side-opening hemispherical-lids, two ancillary-chambers, beam-line-tubes, tees and other high-vacuum components, and chamber-lid handling systems have been designed, constructed and installed for the Charged ParticleDetector Array in BARC-TIFR Pelletron-LINAC Facility, Mumbai. This array of several tens of Si-CsI detector modules and other ancillary-detectors will be used for investigations in fusion-fission dynamics, nuclear structure at elevated temperatures and angular momenta, exotic nuclear clusters and related fields. This paper describes the unique features of the system that aid different coincidence experiments, the chamber fabrication experience and the pump-down characteristics with a turbo molecular pump. Unlike many other target chambers in use, this chamber allows multiple overall geometrical configurations to be set to reach experimental goals. For instance, by replacing a hemispherical-lid from one side with a flat-lid, the overall configuration becomes hemispherical. This way, high geometrical efficiency can be provided to an ancillary gamma detector array by allowing it to move close to target from the flat-lid side, although with some sacrifice of geometrical efficiency for charged particles. In experiments where a further improvement of geometrical efficiency for a gamma array is desired, a third compact-cylinder configuration can also be arrived at. Thinned portion of the lids of the chamber also allow neutron coincidence measurements with charged particles and gamma rays.

In a commissioning measurement, the 'Chessboard' section of the DIAMANT charged-particle array has been coupled with the AFRODITE {gamma}-ray spectrometer at the iThemba Laboratory for Accelerator Based Sciences. Two data-sets were obtained following the bombardment of a 170Er target with a 13C beam at energies of 80 and 70 MeV, respectively. Offline analysis has thus far enabled the extension of a number of rotational bands associated with high-K intrinsic states in 176Hf. Also, the A = 172, 173 and 174 stable isotopes of ytterbium were populated via 2{alpha}xn channels with strengths of {approx}30-to-40% of the {alpha}xn yields. This, together with the comparative weakness of the pxn channels, is consistent with incomplete fusion as the dominant reaction mechanism responsible for the {alpha}-particle emission.

The 90 tons liquid scintillation detector (LSD) is fully running since October 1984, at a depth of 5,200 hg/sq cm of standard rock underground. The main goal is to search for neutrino bursts from collapsing stars. The experiment is very sensitive to detect low energyparticles and has a very good signature to gamma-rays from (n,p) reaction which follows the upsilon e + p yields n + e sup + neutrino capture. The analysis of data is presented and the preliminary results on low energy measurements are discussed.

Design and testing of the United States Navy’s next generation air particledetector (NGAPD) is presently underway. The NGAPD is intended for use in nuclear applications for the United States Navy and is being designed to detect airborne Co-60 with a reduction in false alarms and improved ease of use. Features being developed include gamma compensation, low maintenance, commercial off-the-shelf electronics, and spectrum simulation for quality assurance and functional testing applications. By supplying a spectrum simulator, the radon stripping algorithm can be running when a simulated anthropogenic source spectrum (e.g., from Co-60 or transuranics) is superimposed on the radon progeny spectrum. This will allow alarm levels to be tested when the air flow is running and the radon stripping algorithm is providing the instrument response output. Modern units evaluate source spectra with the air flow off and the radon spectrum absent thereby not testing the true system performance which comes out of the radon stripping algorithm. Testing results of the preliminary prototype show promise along with computer simulations of source spectra. Primary testing results taken to date include gamma compensation, thermal insults, vibration and spectrum simulation.

In the Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory (LHAASO), the 1 km2 array (KM2A) requires linear measurement of optical intensity with a wide dynamic range. Over 5000 photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) are employed in this experiment and developed as "two outputs" device (anode and dynode) to meet the relevant requirements. In this study, the linearity of the anode and the eighth dynode (DY8), which is limited by space charge effects and mainly related to the relative dynode voltage ratios of the PMT divider, is examined. A voltage divider for the Hamamatsu R11102 PMT is designed and a dramatically enhanced linearity is demonstrated. Test results show that this design can cover a wide dynamic range from 20 to 2×105 photoelectrons and achieve a peak anode current of 380 mA at a PMT gain of 105, which satisfies the requirements of KM2A electromagnetic particledetectors. The circuit design has been successfully simulated using the simulation software Multisim. The details of PMT performance tests and simulations are described.

The gamma decay of the first excited 4.44 MeV 2+level of 12C, populated by inelastic scattering of proton and 16O beams at various energies was studied in order to test γ-ray detection efficiency and the quality of angular distribution information given by the CsI(Tl) detectors of the 4π CHIMERA array. The γ-decay was measured in coincidence with ejectile scattered particles in an approximately 4π geometry allowing to extract the angular distribution in the reference frame of recoiling 12C target. The typical sin2 (2θ) behavior of angular distribution was observed in the case of 16O beam. Besides that, for the proton beam, in order to explain the observed distribution, the addition of an incoherent flat contribution was required. This latter is the effect of proton spin flip events allowing the population of M=±1 magnetic substates, that is not possible in reactions induced by 16O beam. A comparison with previously collected data, obtained measuring only in and out of plane proton-γ-ray coincidences, confirms the good quality of the angular distribution information given by the apparatus. Possible applications with radioactive beams are outlined.

The problem of searching for highest-energy cosmic rays and neutrinos in the Universe is reviewed. Possibilities for using the radio method for detecting particles of energies above the GZK cut-off are analyzed. The method is based on the registration of coherent radio emission produced by cascades of most energetic particles in radio-transparent lunar regolith. The Luna-Resurs Orbiter space mission to be launched in the near future (2020) involves the Lunar Orbital Radio Detector (LORD). The design of the LORD space instrument and its scientific potentialities for registration of low-intense cosmic ray particle fluxes of energies above the GZK cut-off up to 1024eV are discussed. The designed LORD module (including the antenna, amplification, and data-acquisition systems) now is under construction. Exposure and capabilities of the LORD space experiment for detection of ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays and neutrinos have been compared with those for well-known current and proposed experiments. The LORD space experiment will make it possible to obtain important information on the highest-energyparticles in the Universe, to verify modern models for the origin and the propagation of ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays and neutrinos.

Measurements of two-particle angular correlations between an identified strange hadron (KS0 or Λ /Λbar) and a charged particle, emitted in pPb collisions, are presented over a wide range in pseudorapidity and full azimuth. The data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of approximately 35 nb-1, were collected at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy (√{sNN}) of 5.02 TeV with the CMS detector at the LHC. The results are compared to semi-peripheral PbPb collision data at √{sNN} = 2.76 TeV, covering similar charged-particle multiplicities in the events. The observed azimuthal correlations at large relative pseudorapidity are used to extract the second-order (v2) and third-order (v3) anisotropy harmonics of KS0 and Λ /Λbar particles. These quantities are studied as a function of the charged-particle multiplicity in the event and the transverse momentum of the particles. For high-multiplicity pPb events, a clear particle species dependence of v2 and v3 is observed. For pT < 2 GeV, the v2 and v3 values of KS0 particles are larger than those of Λ /Λbar particles at the same pT. This splitting effect between two particle species is found to be stronger in pPb than in PbPb collisions in the same multiplicity range. When divided by the number of constituent quarks and compared at the same transverse kinetic energy per quark, both v2 and v3 for KS0 particles are observed to be consistent with those for Λ /Λbar particles at the 10% level in pPb collisions. This consistency extends over a wide range of particle transverse kinetic energy and event multiplicities.

The research effort has led to the development and demonstration of technology to enable the design and construction of a next-generation high-energy gamma-ray telescope that operates in the pair-production regime (E greater than 10 MeV). In particular, the technology approach developed is based on silicon-strip detector technology. A complete instrument concept based on this technology for the pair-conversion tracker and the use of CsI(T1) crystals for the calorimeter is now the baseline instrument concept for the Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) mission. GLAST is NASA's proposed high-energy gamma-ray mission designed to operate in the energy range from 10 MeV to approximately 300 GeV. GLAST, with nearly 100 times the sensitivity of EGRET, operates through pair conversion of gamma-rays and measurement of the direction and energy of the resulting e (+) - e (-) shower. The baseline design, developed with support from NASA includes a charged particle anticoincidence shield, a tracker/converter made of thin sheets of high-Z material interspersed with Si strip detectors, a CsI calorimeter and a programmable data trigger and acquisition system. The telescope is assembled as an array of modules or towers. Each tower contains elements of the tracker, calorimeter, and anticoincidence system. As originally proposed, the telescope design had 49 modules. In the more optimized design that emerged at the end of the grant period the individual modules are larger and the total number in the GLAST array is 25. Also the calorimeter design was advanced substantially to the point that it has a self-contained imaging capability, albeit much cruder than the tracker.

Because of recent concerns about the health effects of ultrafine particles and the indication that particle toxicity is related to surface area, we have been examining techniques for measuring parameters related to the surface area of fine particles, especially in the 0.003- to 0.5-microm size range. In an earlier study, we suggested that the charge attached to particles, as measured by a prototype of the Electrical Aerosol Detector (EAD, TSI Inc., Model 3070), was related to the 1.16 power of the mobility diameter. An inspection of the pattern of particle deposition in the lung as a function of particle size suggested that the EAD measurement might be a useful indicator of the surface area of particles deposited in the lung. In this study, we calculate the particle surface area (micrometer squared) deposited in the lung per cubic centimeter of air inhaled as a function of particle size using atmospheric particle size distributions measured in Minneapolis, MN, and East St. Louis, IL. The correlations of powers of the mobility diameter, Dx, were highest for X = 1.1-1.6 for the deposited surface area and for X = 1.25 with the EAD signal. This overlap suggested a correspondence between the EAD signal and the deposited surface area. The correlation coefficients of the EAD signal and particle surface area deposited in the alveolar and tracheobronchial regions of the lung for three breathing patterns are in the range of Pearson's r = 0.91-0.95 (coefficient of determination, R2 = 0.82-0.90). These statistical relationships suggest that the EAD could serve as a useful indicator of particle surface area deposited in the lung in exposure and epidemiologic studies of the human health effects of atmospheric particles and as a measure of the potential surface area dose for the characterization of occupational environments. PMID:17355082

Single-shot dual-energy sandwich detector can produce sharp images because of subtraction of images from two sub-detector layers, which have different thick x-ray converters, of the sandwich detector. Inspired by this observation, the authors have developed a microtomography system with the sandwich detector in pursuit of high-resolution bone-enhanced small-animal imaging. The preliminary results show that the bone-enhanced images reconstructed with the subtracted projection data are better in visibility of bone details than the conventionally reconstructed images. In addition, the bone-enhanced images obtained from the sandwich detector are relatively immune to the artifacts caused by photon starvation. The microtomography with the single-shot dual-energy sandwich detector will be useful for the high-resolution bone imaging.

Synchrotron-based soft x-ray spectroscopy is often limited by detector performance. Grating spectrometers have the resolution, but lack the efficiency for the analysis of dilute samples. Semiconducting Si(Li) or Ge detectors are efficient, but often lack the resolution to separate weak signals from strong nearby lines in multi-element samples. Superconducting tunnel junctions (STJs) operated at temperatures below 1 K can be used as high-resolution high-efficiency x-ray detectors. They combine high energy resolution around 10 eV FWHM with the broad band efficiency of energy-dispersive detectors. We have designed a two-stage adiabatic demagnetization refrigerator (ADR) to operate STJ detectors in x-ray fluorescence measurements at beam line 4 of the ALS. We demonstrate the capabilities of such a detector system for fluorescence analysis of dilute metal sites in proteins and inorganic model compounds.

We obtain a general expression for the orientational energy of an individual anisometric particle suspended in uniform nematic liquid crystals when the main axis of the particle rotates with respect to the nematic director. We show that there is a qualitative and quantitative analogy between the internal and external problems for cylindrical volumes of nematic liquid crystals, and on this basis we obtain an estimate of the orientational energy of a particle of cylindrical (rodlike, needlelike, or ellipsoidal) shape. For an ensemble of such particles we propose a modified form of their orientational energy in the nematic matrix. This orientational energy has the usual second-order term, and additional fourth-order term in the scalar product of the nematic director and the vector which characterizes an average direction of the main axes of the particles. As an example we obtain the expression for the free energy density of ferronematics, i.e., colloidal suspensions of needlelike magnetic particles in nematic liquid crystals. Unlike previous models, the free energy density includes the proposed modified form of the particle orientational energy, and also a contribution describing the surface saddle-splay deformations of the liquid crystal matrix.

Cosmic particle radiation may damages payload's electronics, optics, and sensors during of long-term scientific space mission especially the interplanetary ones. That is why it's extremely important to prevent failures of digital electronics, CCDs, semiconductor detectors at the times of passing through regions of enhanced charged particle fluxes. Well developed models of the Earth's radiation belts allow to predict and to protect sensitive equipment against disastrous influence of radiation due to energetic particle contained in the Van Allen belts. In the contrary interplanetary probes flying far away from our planet undergoes passages through clouds of plasma and solar cosmic rays not predictable by present models. Especially these concerns missions planned for non-ecliptic orbits. The practical approach to protect sensitive modules may be to measure the in situ particle fluxes with high time resolution and generation of alarm flags, which will switch off sensitive units of particular scientific equipment. The ChemiX (Chemical composition in X-rays) instrument is being developed by the Solar Physics Division of Polish Space Research Centre for the Interhelio-Probe interplanetary mission. Charged particle bursts can badly affect the regular measurements of X-ray spectra of solar origin. In order to detect presence of these enhanced particle fluxes the Background Particle Monitor (BPM) was developed constituting now a vital part of ChemiX. The BPM measurements of particle fluxes will assist to determine level of X-ray spectra contamination. Simultaneously BPM will measure the energy spectra of ambient particles. We present overall structure, design, technical and a scientific characteristic of BPM, particle sorts, and energy ranges to be registered. We describe nearly autonomous modular structure of BPM consisting of detector head, analogue and digital electronics modules, and of module of secondary power supply [1-3]. Detector head consists of three

The cryogenic resonant gravitational wave detectors NAUTILUS and EXPLORER, made of an aluminum alloy bar, can detect cosmic ray showers. At temperatures above 1 K, when the material is in the normal-conducting state, the measured signals are in good agreement with the expected values based on the cosmic rays data and on the thermo-acoustic model. When NAUTILUS was operated at the temperature of 0.14 K, in superconductive state, large signals produced by cosmic ray interactions, more energetic than expected, were recorded. The NAUTILUS data in this case are in agreement with the measurements done by a dedicated experiment on a particle beam. The biggest recorded event was in EXPLORER and excited the first longitudinal mode to a vibrational energy of ˜670 K, corresponding to ˜360 TeV absorbed in the bar. Cosmic rays can be an important background in future acoustic detectors of improved sensitivity. At present, they represent a useful tool to verify the gravitational wave antenna performance.

Images of the Bullet Cluster of galaxies in visible light, X-rays, and through gravitational lensing confirm that most of the matter in the universe is not composed of any known form of matter. The combined evidence from the dynamics of galaxies and clusters of galaxies, the cosmic microwave background, big bang nucleosynthesis, and other observations indicates that 80% of the universe's matter is dark, nearly collisionless, and cold. The identify of the dar, matter remains unknown, but weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) are a very good candidate. They are a natural part of many supersymmetric extensions to the standard model, and could be produced as a nonrelativistic, thermal relic in the early universe with about the right density to account for the missing mass. The dark matter of a galaxy should exist as a spherical or ellipsoidal cloud, called a 'halo' because it extends well past the edge of the visible galaxy. The Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMS) seeks to directly detect interactions between WIMPs in the Milky Way's galactic dark matter halo using crystals of germanium and silicon. Our Z-sensitive ionization and phonon ('ZIP') detectors simultaneously measure both phonons and ionization produced by particle interactions. In order to find very rare, low-energy WIMP interactions, they must identify and reject background events caused by environmental radioactivity, radioactive contaminants on the detector,s and cosmic rays. In particular, sophisticated analysis of the timing of phonon signals is needed to eliminate signals caused by beta decays at the detector surfaces. This thesis presents the firs two dark matter data sets from the deep underground experimental site at the Soudan Underground Laboratory in Minnesota. These are known as 'Run 118', with six detectors (1 kg Ge, 65.2 live days before cuts) and 'Run 119', with twelve detectors (1.5 kg Ge, 74.5 live days before cuts). They have analyzed all data from the two runs together in a single

The goal of this paper was to investigate the benefits that could be realistically achieved on a microCT imaging system with an energy-resolved photon-counting x-ray detector. To this end, we built and evaluated a prototype microCT system based on such a detector. The detector is based on cadmium telluride (CdTe) radiation sensors and application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) readouts. Each detector pixel can simultaneously count x-ray photons above six energy thresholds, providing the capability for energy-selective x-ray imaging. We tested the spectroscopic performance of the system using polychromatic x-ray radiation and various filtering materials with K-absorption edges. Tomographic images were then acquired of a cylindrical PMMA phantom containing holes filled with various materials. Results were also compared with those acquired using an intensity-integrating x-ray detector and single-energy (i.e. non-energy-selective) CT. This paper describes the functionality and performance of the system, and presents preliminary spectroscopic and tomographic results. The spectroscopic experiments showed that the energy-resolved photon-counting detector was capable of measuring energy spectra from polychromatic sources like a standard x-ray tube, and resolving absorption edges present in the energy range used for imaging. However, the spectral quality was degraded by spectral distortions resulting from degrading factors, including finite energy resolution and charge sharing. We developed a simple charge-sharing model to reproduce these distortions. The tomographic experiments showed that the availability of multiple energy thresholds in the photon-counting detector allowed us to simultaneously measure target-to-background contrasts in different energy ranges. Compared with single-energy CT with an integrating detector, this feature was especially useful to improve differentiation of materials with different attenuation coefficient energy dependences.

The goal of this paper was to investigate the benefits that could be realistically achieved on a microCT imaging system with an energy-resolved photon-counting x-ray detector. To this end, we built and evaluated a prototype microCT system based on such a detector. The detector is based on cadmium telluride (CdTe) radiation sensors and application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) readouts. Each detector pixel can simultaneously count x-ray photons above six energy thresholds, providing the capability for energy-selective x-ray imaging. We tested the spectroscopic performance of the system using polychromatic x-ray radiation and various filtering materials with K-absorption edges. Tomographic images were then acquired of a cylindrical PMMA phantom containing holes filled with various materials. Results were also compared with those acquired using an intensity-integrating x-ray detector and single-energy (i.e. non-energy-selective) CT. This paper describes the functionality and performance of the system, and presents preliminary spectroscopic and tomographic results. The spectroscopic experiments showed that the energy-resolved photon-counting detector was capable of measuring energy spectra from polychromatic sources like a standard x-ray tube, and resolving absorption edges present in the energy range used for imaging. However, the spectral quality was degraded by spectral distortions resulting from degrading factors, including finite energy resolution and charge sharing. We developed a simple charge-sharing model to reproduce these distortions. The tomographic experiments showed that the availability of multiple energy thresholds in the photon-counting detector allowed us to simultaneously measure target-to-background contrasts in different energy ranges. Compared with single-energy CT with an integrating detector, this feature was especially useful to improve differentiation of materials with different attenuation coefficient energy dependences. PMID:21464527

Cosmic Ray (CR) variation measurements have been extensively conducted using different type of detectors sensing different components of CR and at different locations around the world. We have constructed and, operated a single channel muon detector in the central part of Saudi Arabia. The main goal of this detector is to record the intensity of cosmic rays on different time scales and investigate their correlations with environment parameters. This detector is expected to fill the gap between neutron monitors and muon telescopes that exist around the world. In this paper, the technical aspects of this detector will be briefly discussed. Calibration procedures conducted to characterize and improve its performance will be detailed. These include the effect of the detector geometry and the internal surface coating.

Since quantum field theories do not possess proper position observables, Unruh-DeWitt detector models serve as a key theoretical tool for extracting localized spatiotemporal information from quantum fields. Most studies have been limited, however, to Unruh-DeWitt (UDW) detectors that are coupled linearly to a scalar bosonic field. Here, we investigate UDW detector models that probe fermionic as well as bosonic fields through both linear and quadratic couplings. In particular, we present a renormalization method that cures persistent divergencies of prior models. We then show how perturbative calculations with UDW detectors can be streamlined through the use of extended Feynman rules that include localized detector-field interactions. Our findings pave the way for the extension of previous studies of the Unruh and Hawking effects with UDW detectors, and provide new tools for studies in relativistic quantum information, for example, regarding relativistic quantum communication and studies of the entanglement structure of the fermionic vacuum.

An ongoing research project in the area of radiation monitoring employing the Timepix technology from the CERN-based Medipix2 Collaboration profits greatly from optimizing the precision of the position and energy information obtained for the detected quanta. Wider applications of the Timepix technology as a radiation monitor also puts new demands on the precision and speed of the energy calibration. We compare the analog signal in pixel front-end electronics for different sources used during detector evaluation and energy calibration. We use the direct measurement of the analog signal from the pixel preamplifier and comparator to characterize pulse shape differences for different sources, e.g. internal test pulses, external test pulses, ionizing radiation, etc. and study their interchangeability. Accurate per-pixel energy calibration of the Timepix detector enables the direct measurement of the energy deposited by different types of ionizing radiation. The energy calibration process requires the application of a known charge to front-end electronics of each pixel. The small pixel size limits use of the radioactive sources. The 59.54 keV line from 241Am is commonly used as the highest point in calibration curve. The heavy ion dosimetry as encountered in the space radiation environment requires a considerable extrapolation to the energies in the MeV range. We have observed that for energies around and beyond 1 MeV the response of the Timepix's front-end electronics no longer follows the extrapolated calibration function. We have investigated this non-linearity and identified its source. We also propose both hardware and software solutions to suppress this effect. In this paper we show the impact on pixel calibration and the subsequent energy resolution for different detector settings as well as the resulting power consumptions. We discuss the parameter optimization for several different real-world applications.

New metastable massive particles with electric and color charge are features of many theories beyond the Standard Model. A search is performed for long-lived gluino-based R-hadrons with the ATLAS detector at the LHC using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 31 pb{sup -1}. We search for evidence of particles that have come to rest in the ATLAS detector and decay at some later time during the periods in the LHC bunch structure without proton-proton collisions. No significant deviations from the expected backgrounds are observed, and a cross-section limit is set. It can be interpreted as excluding gluino-based R-hadrons with masses less than 341 GeV at the 95 % C.L., for lifetimes from 10{sup -5} to 10{sup 3} seconds and a neutralino mass of 100 GeV.